North American markets were mixed Thursday amid a round of disappointing reports that suggest the U.S. economy is not recovering as much as some would like to believe.
The S&P/TSX composite index greeted noon Thursday up 69.71 points to 12,543.36
The Canadian dollar subsided 0.09 cents to 98.32 cents U.S.
In Toronto, the stock market turned positive at midday, after all sectors were down at the close on Wednesday.
The info tech sector advances, with shares in Open Text higher by 2.8% to $71.74 and Celestica Inc. were up 2.9% to $9.36.
Meanwhile, BlackBerry shares were down 1.6%, or 25 cents to $15.02.
The telecom sector was also boosted after Telus said it was prepared to pay off Mobilicity debtholders, hire its employees and provide service to the small wireless carrier’s 250,000 customers as part of a $380-million deal.
The deal, which is subject to conditions including approval by the Competition Bureau, Industry Canada, and Mobilicity’s debtholders, resulted in its shares climbing more than 1%, or 41 cents, to $37.36.
The gold, materials and metals and mining sectors saw minimal upticks after being down for most of the morning.
CAE Inc. reported its net income was $43.6 million or 17 cents per share in its fiscal fourth quarter, a decline from a year earlier due to restructuring, integration and acquisition costs during the January to March period.
The Montreal-based company, which provides training equipment and services for the civil aviation and defence markets, says its fourth-quarter revenue was 16% higher — rising to $587.9 million from $506.7 million last year.
Commodity prices are showing some small gains. July copper was up three cents $3.30 U.S. a pound.
In the economic file today, Statistics Canada reported this morning that folks offshore acquired $1.2 billion of Canadian securities in March, mostly parking their funds in government bonds.
Meanwhile, Canadian investors added $3.8 billion of foreign securities to their holdings, following a $4.3-billion acquisition in February.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 3.17 points to 933.70
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher at noon, led by industrials, up 1.3%, gold, up 0.8%, and energy, gaining 0.7%.
The lone naysayer was in health-care, down 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks inched their way up into positive territory, despite economic data that gave investors pause.
The Dow Jones Industrials squeezed 5.13 points at noon to 15,280.80
The S&P 500 index moved higher 0.12 points to 1,658.90, while the NASDAQ Composite gained 5.08 points to 3,476.69
Cisco shares surged after the tech giant topped earnings and sales forecasts. But bullish statements by Cisco's CEO John Chambers about the global economy didn't spill over to the broader market.
But its competitors, Juniper Networks and Alcatel Lucent, got a boost on the back of Cisco's earnings.
Looking at other tech giants, Google shares dipped slightly after topping the $900 U.S. mark for the first time Wednesday.
Investors will look to results from Dell after the bell to learn more about whether the computer maker will be taken private.
Wal-Mart reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings but a decrease in same-store sales. The company said it was held back by a delay in income tax refunds.
Kohl's stock price jumped after the retailer beat its own guidance in quarterly earnings, despite a dip in profit. Struggling J.C. Penney, backed by hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, reports results in the afternoon.
Tesla shares rose after the electric car maker announced it was raising capital to repay its government loan early. CEO Elon Musk plans to personally buy $100 million U.S. worth of stock.
A key measure of inflation, the Consumer Price Index, fell. Gold prices, which tend to do well during times of inflation, continued to plummet following the CPI report.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained strength, lowering yields to 1.88% from Wednesday’s 1.94%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices acquired 92 cents to $95.22 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $12.20 at $1,384 U.S. an ounce
