Markets in Toronto enjoyed small gains in early Thursday trade as weak U.S. economic data, suggesting that stimulus measures would remain in place, was countered by a decline in Royal Bank of Canada after the lender reported quarterly results.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index took on 32.23 points early Thursday at 12,764.84
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.04 cents to 96.66 cents U.S,
Royal Bank posted $1.9 billion of net income in the second quarter, up 26% from a year earlier. The profit amounted to $1.27 share while adjusted diluted EPS was $1.31. Royal shares ditched $1.45 to $62.53
CIBC had a second-quarter profit of $876-million profit, which was up 8% from a year ago. Its net income and adjusted net income both came in at $2.12 per share, above the consensus estimate. CIBC said its quarterly dividend will be increased by two cents to 96 cents per share. CIBC shares acquired 23 cents to $80.66
Canaccord raised the rating on Canadian Pacific Railway to hold, the target to $137 from $111 to reflect the strong share price appreciation potential over the next two to three years, believes the company has a good chance of achieving its goals. CP shares added $1.68 to $140.17
KBW cut the target price on Bank of Montreal by a dollar to $62 after the company posted lower-than-expected second-quarter results on weak operating leverage in domestic retail. BMO shares fell 19 cents to $62.31.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada said its industrial product price index slid 0.8% in April, due to declining petroleum and coal prices. In the same month, the agency said its raw materials price index fell 2.2%, mostly because of decreased prices for crude oil.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved 3.08 points higher to 956.79
In all, nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher, led by gold, up 3.9%, materials, gaining 2.6%, and the metals and mining group, picking up 0.9%.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by real-estate, down 0.4%, energy, sliding 0.3%, and financials, 0.2% to the bad.
ON WALLSTREET
A sharp selloff in Japanese stocks Thursday didn't spill over to Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrials regained 57.91 points to open Thursday at 15,360.70
The S&P 500 index recovered 9.58 points to 1,657.94. The tech-rich NASDAQ Composite added 21.52 points to 3,489.03
Warren Buffett put Berkshire Hathaway's money where his mouth is late Wednesday when his firm acquired MidAmerican Energy.
Shares of MidAmerican's parent company, NV Energy, surged on the news that Berkshire will pay a 23% premium for the company.
The battle for Sprint took another turn, after Dish Network raised its offer for Clearwire late Wednesday, topping the bid from Sprint Nextel. Dish is locked in a takeover battle for Sprint with Japan's SoftBank.
Discount retailer Costco reported slightly better-than-expected quarterly earnings, although revenue came in just short of estimates.
Electric car maker Tesla will triple its network of rapid charging stations to allow drivers to travel from Los Angeles to New York by year's end, CEO Elon Musk announced at the All Things Digital conference in California late Wednesday.
But Musk also said a mass-market Tesla, priced at about $30,000 U.S., is still three to five years away.
Late Wednesday, Moody's cut the credit rating of Dow component Alcoa to junk bond status.
Shares of information data storage equipment maker EMC got a lift after it announced its first quarterly dividend and increased the side of its share repurchase program.
Economically speaking, ahead of the opening bell, the U.S. government released weekly data on initial jobless claims that showed a slight uptick and was higher than expected.
Meanwhile, the government's second estimate of first-quarter gross domestic product came in at 2.4%, below the first estimate released last month.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury were static, maintaining yields at Wednesday’s 2.12%.
Oil prices moved lower $1.24 to $91.89 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices were positive $20.90 to $1,412.20 U.S. an ounce
