The Toronto stock market was moderately higher Tuesday amid a mixed slate of earnings reports and a pair of strong U.S. economic reports.
The S&P/TSX composite index picked up 10.90 points to close Tuesday’s session at 13,692.38
The Canadian dollar stumbled 79 cents to 91.31 cents U.S.
Corus Entertainment Inc. posted adjusted net income of $55.2 million, or 65 cents a share, three cents higher than estimates. Revenue was $226 million, up from $209 million a year earlier and just short of estimates. Corus also said it was raising its dividend 7% and its shares jumped 81 cents to $25.40.
Shaw Communications Inc. reports it had $245 million of quarterly net income, or 51 cents per share. That's up from $235 million, or 50 cents per share, a year earlier and two cents above analyst estimates.
Shaw's revenue rose 3.3% to $1.36 billion, beating estimates of $1.36 billion, but its shares fell 43 cents to $24.88 as RBC Capital Markets noted that employee bonuses and programming costs weighed on margins.
March copper was down one cent at $3.34 U.S. a pound but the TSX base metals sector gained ground as Bank of America/Merrill Lynch upgraded Thompson Creek Metals from underperform to buy. Its stock jumped 45 cents, or 19%, to $2.82.
Elsewhere in the sector, Turquoise Hill Resources improved by 22 cents to $3.83.
The telecom sector advanced as bidding for a coveted piece of Canada's wireless market was to start today. The 700-megahertz waves are particularly valuable because they allow cellphone signals to travel longer distances and penetrate buildings and tunnels where calls are often dropped.
Rogers Communications was the strongest performer in the group, ahead 82 cents at $47.86.
The gold sector edged lower as Goldcorp faded 70 cents to $24.34.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 0.17 points to 964.71
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks bounced back Tuesday as investors cheered results from some of the nation's largest financial institutions and also showed enthusiasm about the tech sector.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 115.92 points to end the day at 16,373.86, after a plunge Monday of more than 170 points
The S&P 500 index gained 19.68 points to 1,838.88. The NASDAQ recouped 69.71 points to 4,183.02, led by a 4% gain in Intel following positive analyst reports about the chip giant.
JPMorgan Chase posted a fourth-quarter profit of $5.3 billion U.S., including a $1.1-billion U.S. writeoff for legal expenses. But earnings topped expectations. Shares of JPMorgan ended the day flat.
The bank has settled numerous lawsuits in the past year, including over its behavior in the run-up to the mortgage crisis and for turning a blind eye to Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff.
Wells Fargo also released earnings that slightly beat estimates, though it reported a big drop in mortgage activity. Shares finished the day mostly unchanged. But one trader was worried about the mortgage business.
This is just the beginning. Investors are readying themselves for a slew of quarterly earnings announcements over the coming weeks. Four other big banks are due to report their results later this week: Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley
Tesla shares surged almost 16% after bullish comments about fourth-quarter deliveries of the Model S from the electric car maker's management at the auto show in Detroit. The stock had a huge rally in 2013 before pulling back a bit towards the end of the year.
Shares of Microsoft moved higher despite a downgrade from Citigroup. Wall Street has become increasingly anxious over the tech giant's search for a successor.
Google hit an all-time high after the search engine announced Monday afternoon that it was buying connected device maker Nest Labs for $3.2 billion U.S.
Charter Communications said it had formally proposed acquiring Time Warner Cable, but the company flatly rejected the offer. Shares of both companies were trading higher.
Shares of GameStop tanked 20% after the video game retailer reported weak holiday season sales.
Economically speaking, retail sales for December came in slightly better than expected, as retailers offered big promotions due to a shortened holiday season.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell, raising yields to 2.87% from Monday’s 2.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices remained positive 64 cents to $92.44 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices docked $8.30 to $1,242.60 U.S. an ounce.
