The Toronto stock market closed higher, thanks in part to a pair of positive U.S. economic reports.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 49.12 points to 11,635.49, with financials leading advancers.
The telecom sector was the leading decliner amid investor disappointment with a solid earnings report from Rogers Communications. Some analysts blamed a conservative outlook for the reason the telecom giant's stock fell 4.58%
TMX Group Inc. was up 2.60%, Sun Life Financial Inc. gained 2.98% and Bank of Montreal rose 1.67%.
Intact Financial Corp. ended higher 3.35%, after the insurer reported Wednesday a turnaround to profit in the fourth quarter.
The Gold Index eased with Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. down 4.03 % and Agnico-Eagle Mines down 1.12%, while Barrick Gold Corp. and Goldcorp Inc. rose 1.59% and 0.80% respectively.
In economic news, Statistics Canada said country's wholesale trade in current dollars increased by 0.7% to $42.80 billion in December, in line with forecasts. The machinery and electronic equipment sector contributed the most to the growth in December. Sales in this sector climbed 1.2% to $8.8 billion.
The Canadian dollar was off 0.15 of a cent to 95.68 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, nine were in the green on the day. Financials led the way, gaining 1.2%, followed by a 0.8% surge from health-care issues, while real-estate stocks were 0.9% to the good.
The five laggards were weighed by telecoms, off 1.1%, information technology, skidding 0.7% and metals and mining, down 0.5%.
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 1.42 points to 1,518.72, while the Nasdaq Canada index eked out a gain of 0.34 points to 750.52.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks gained Wednesday as investors considered a better-than-expected housing report, a mixed forecast from the Federal Reserve and some upbeat company news.
The Dow Jones industrial average advanced a respectable 40.43 points to close at 10,309.24. The S&P 500 index gained 4.64 points to 1,099.51, and the Nasdaq composite moved ahead 12.10 points to 2,226.29.
Stocks clung to modest gains throughout the session Wednesday as investors weighed the day's news against the headwinds that have punished stocks year-to-date.
After the close, Hewlett-Packard reported higher quarterly earnings and revenue that topped expectations.
Stocks rallied Tuesday after Merck and Barclays released better-than-expected results and commodity prices rose. The Dow gained 1.7%, or 170 points, for its biggest one-day point gain since Nov. 9.
But Tuesday's advance was an exception, and stocks have had a rough start to the year, with the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 posting declines for four of the last five weeks.
Deere & Co. reported higher quarterly earnings that topped estimates on lower revenue that also topped estimates. The heavy equipment maker said that cost-cutting and the benefit of better currency rates helped offset the weak economic environment.
Deere also boosted its 2010 sales forecast. Shares gained 5% in morning trading.
Around 379 companies, or 76% of the S&P 500, have reported results. Currently, results are on track to have risen 208% from a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenues are set to rise 8%. Stripping out the recharged financial sector, earnings are set to rise 16% and revenues 3%.
In deal news, Walgreen said it will buy rival drugstore Duane Reade in a deal valued at $1.08 billion U.S., including debt.
Toyota said it plans to install a new brake override system in its cars, and that it will tighten controls on safety, in the aftermath of its recall of millions of autos due to faulty brakes.
However, President Akio Toyoda said he won't testify before Congress at the hearing later this month. Shares of Toyota fell nearly 3%.
Worries about China limiting bank lending and the threat of Greece's debt crisis expanding have dragged on stocks. European officials have sought to soothe worries about Greece and other euro zone countries lately, but broader concerns about the strength of any recovery have continued to worry investors.
Experts said that the China and euro debt issues took investors by surprise and that while quarterly profit reports have been good, the economic news has been mixed.
In 2009, the Dow gained 18.8%, the S&P 500 rose 23.4% and the Nasdaq gained 44%. But the gains were even bigger off multi-year lows of last March, with the Dow rising 59%, the S&P 500 rising 65% and the Nasdaq rising 79%.
The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its last policy meeting in the afternoon, as well as its revised economic forecast. Chairman Ben Bernanke and the other officials said unemployment should decline only modestly over the next few years, keeping the unemployment rate above the level that is typical during a recovery.
The bankers also gave a slight boost to forecasts for economic growth this year, lifting the target to growth of between 2.8% and 3.5% in 2010 versus November forecasts for growth between 2.5% and 3.5%.
Economically speaking, the National Association of Home Builders reported that housing starts jumped 2.8% in January to an annual rate of 591,000, which was more than expected.
Housing starts were expected to have reached an annual rate of 580,000 units in January, according to a Briefing.com consensus of economist forecasts.
Building permits, a measure of houses yet to be built, fell 4.9% to an annual rate of 691,000 units in January, which was better than expected. The rate of permits was expected to have slipped to 620,000 in January.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported import and export prices for January. Import prices rose 1.4% and export prices rose 0.8%, the government said.
Reports on industrial production and capacity utilization were also released before the bell.
Treasury prices dipped sharply, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.74%, from 3.66% Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil increased 33 cents to $77.34 U.S.
Gold prices were flat at $1,120 U.S.
