The Toronto stock market headed higher Friday after the U.S. Federal Reserve removed a great degree of uncertainty over its stimulus plans while data showed the U.S. economy is performing much better than expected during the third quarter.
The S&P/TSX composite index held on to gain 8.94 points to end the day and the week at 13,401.14
The Canadian dollar regained 0.19 cents to 93.96 cents U.S.
Traders also focused on BlackBerry after the struggling smartphone maker handed in quarterly earnings that were worse than expected.
BlackBerry posted a loss of $4.4 billion U.S., or $8.37 a share, down from a profit of $9 million or two cents a share a year ago.
Poor sales of its new BlackBerry 10 devices sent revenue tumbling 56% from a year ago to $1.2 billion U.S, which was $400 million lower than analyst estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters. Adjusted losses from continuing operations, which filter out various expenses like restructuring costs, were $354 million U.S., or 67 cents per share, 23 cents below analyst estimates.
BlackBerry also said it finished the quarter with $3.2 billion in cash, and expects that strong cash position to continue in the current quarter. The firm also announced it had entered into a five-year strategic partnership with Foxconn to make phones in Indonesia and other fast-growing markets.
The stock wandered between positive and negative territory and by day’s end was up $1.07, or 16%, to $7.74 on the TSX
The base metals segment led advancers, while March copper gained a cent to $3.31 U.S. a pound and the base metals component also rose. Teck Resources climbed 65 cents to $26.31.
Among rail stocks, Canadian National Railways was down 29 cents to $59.87.
In the telecom sector, Telus was down 53 cents to $35.71.
The energy sector was up as Canadian Natural Resources was up 28 cents to $35.30.
Among financials, Manulife Financial was down six cents to $20.69.
Enbridge shares were two cents higher to $45.35, after a joint review panel gave the thumbs up to the company's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline that would connect the Alberta oilsands to tankers on the B.C. coast.
However, the panel attached 209 conditions to the controversial $6-billion project. The final decision rests with the federal government, which has roughly six months to respond to the report.
Quantitative easing had supported gold prices because of inflationary fears. But inflation is tame in many countries and data out earlier this week showed the consumer price index rising at an annual rate of only 1.2%, significantly below the Fed's inflation target of 2%
Gold prices are down 29% so far this year while the TSX Global Gold sector has tumbled about 50%.
Enbridge shares were 13 cents higher to $45.46 after a joint review panel gave the thumbs up to the company's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline that would connect the Alberta oilsands to tankers on the B.C. coast.
However, the panel attached 209 conditions to the controversial $6-billion project. The final decision rests with the federal government, which has roughly six months to respond to the report.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported this morning that November’s Consumer Price Index inched up 0.2%, after a 0.1% drop in October. On a year-over-year basis, the increase was 0.9%.
The agency also reported that retail sales eased 0.1% in October, in comparison to a market call of a 0.2% increase. This follows three straight monthly gains, and was mostly the result of lower sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.84 points to 889.01
All but four of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher on the day, led by information technology, zooming 2.1%, while metals and mining issues, were up 1.1%, and health-care was better by 0.6%
Real-estate led the four downward groups, lower by 0.7%, while gold sank 0.3% and industrials were off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
After a bumpy start to December, stocks have finally experienced a so-called Santa Claus rally, the trend in which the markets get a lift at the end of the year.
The Dow Jones Industrials notched higher 42.06 points to 16,221.14
The S&P 500 index improved 8.71 points to 1,818.31. The NASDAQ perked 46.60 points to 4,104.74.
The Dow and S&P hit new all-time highs in the process. The NASDAQ was up 1% and topped the 4,100 mark for the first time since September 2000.
BlackBerry shares jumped 13% in volatile trading, even though the company reported a steeper-than-expected $4.4-billion U.S. loss and a 56% drop in quarterly sales.
The struggling smart phone maker also announced a five-year strategic partnership with electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn. Still, interim CEO John Chen was optimistic during a conference call with analysts and expressed confidence that the company could turn around.
Open-source software company Red Hat soared 16% after a strong earnings report. That made Red Hat the top gainer in the S&P 500 for the day.
Other notable blue chip companies that hit records Friday include Google, Walt Disney, Comcast, and American Express
Gold staged something of a comeback Friday, a day after dropping to a three-year low. Prices have plunged 30% this year, the worst annual performance for the precious metal in decades.
Gross domestic product -- the broadest measure of economic activity -- grew at a 4.1% annual pace in the third quarter, up from the 2.8% pace that was originally reported in November.
The revised GDP figure shows the highest rate of growth for the economy since the last quarter of 2011 and comes just days after the Federal Reserve started pulling back on its economic stimulus by $10 billion U.S. per month.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries jumped, lowering yields back to Thursday’s 2.89%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices nicked up seven cents to $99.11 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $7.50 to $1,201.10 U.S. an ounce.
