The Toronto stock market was higher Tuesday as a strong earnings report from oilsands giant Suncor Energy raised expectations for other energy companies reporting this week.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 52.20 points to end Tuesday at 14,583.11
The Canadian dollar leaped 0.62 cents at 91.21 cents U.S.
Suncor posted operating earnings of $1.79 billion, or $1.22 per share, widely beating the average analyst expectation of 93 cents and its shares were up $1.35, or 3.3%, to $42.69.
Traders will be taking in earnings from other heavy hitters in the sector this week, including Cenovus, Imperial Oil and Canadian Natural Resources amid a sharp change in the fortunes for these companies.
Cenovus shares hiked 42 cents to $33.02, while Imperial shares acquired 67 to $53.40, and Natural Resources shares inched forward nine cents to $44.95.
One of the improvements revolves around a sharp narrowing in the price between oilsands crude, known as Western Canadian Select, and West Texas Intermediate, a lighter crude used as the U.S. benchmark.
Elsewhere in the energy sector, Encana Corp. shares gained 62 cents to $25.68 as the company said that it is selling some natural gas properties in Texas to an undisclosed purchaser for about $530 million as the Calgary company continues to pare down its portfolio.
July copper was down two cents to $3.07 U.S. a pound and the base metals sector rose as Teck Resources grew 34 cents to $24.60
In other corporate developments, Quebecor Inc. shares were 62 cents lower to $26.00 with the announcement that its president and chief executive is retiring.
Robert Depatie, who was promoted to the post last May when Pierre Karl Peladeau stepped down, announced Monday that he was retiring for health reasons.
Power generation company TransAlta handed in net earnings of $49 million, or 18 cents per share, up $60 million from a net loss of $11 million, or four cents per share, in the same period last year. Revenues totaled $775 million, up from $540 million year-over-year. Its shares gained 23 cents to $13.31.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 9.53 points to 1,000.05
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups ended the day up, led by a 1.8% rise in energy stocks, while metals and mining hiked 1.3%, and gold shone 1.1% brighter.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed by utilities, down 1%, industrials, off 0.8%, and consumer discretionaries, sliding 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were solidly higher, setting up the market for its seventh consecutive green Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average strengthened 86.63 points to 16,535.37
The S&P 500 gained 8.90 points to 1,878.33, and the NASDAQ composite index soared 29.14 to 4,103.54.
April has been a tough month, with the NASDAQ taking a sharp dive as investors soured on many tech and bio tech stocks. The S&P and Dow are up for the month, but only barely.
But the S&P 500 has returned almost 9% year-to-date on Tuesdays, rallying on all but two Tuesdays in 2014
Meanwhile corporate earnings reports continue to roll in. Sprint popped 10% as investors cheered a narrower than expected loss and strong sales.
Shares of BP nudged 3% higher after the oil and gas firm hiked its dividend. But Coach dropped 9% after the luxury handbag company reported weaker sales, even as it beat on profits. One trader said that Coach continues to face pressure from rivals Michael Kors and Kate Spade.
Herbalife shares were higher after logging stronger than expected profits and sales and announcing plans to scrap its dividend in favor of more stock buybacks. The company is the subject of several government investigations into its business practices.
EBay and Twitter are among the major companies that will share results after the closing bell. Investors are betting on positive news from Twitter, bidding the micro clogging site 5% higher.
Aside from earnings, shares of Nokia rose 5% after the tech company announced a new CEO and plans to spend billions on dividends and share buybacks. Nokia has just finalized the sale of its handset division to Microsoft, allowing it to focus on its networks business.
Inflight Internet provider Gogo tumbled 26% after AT&T revealed plans to launch a competing service for airplane Wifi.
Attention is beginning to shift to the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is set to wrap up a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. The central bank is likely to dial back its bond buying program by another $10 billion U.S. in a bid to wean Wall Street off its easy money policies.
Housing stocks such as Lennar were little changed after the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city index of U.S. home prices was unchanged in February, matching forecasts. Prices climbed 12.9% year-over-year, nearly mirroring estimates.
Despite the improvement in the weather, the Conference Board said U.S. consumer confidence ticked down to 82.3 in April from 83.9 in March. Economists had been banking on a more modest dip to 83.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries sagged, raising yields to 2.70% from Monday’s 2.68%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up 22 cents to $101.06 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slipped $2.50 to $1,296.50 U.S. an ounce.
