A positive earnings report in the technology sector as well as merger-and-acquisition activity among gold miners helped push the Toronto stock market higher Thursday.
The S&P/TSX composite index roared ahead 161.06 points, or 1.2%, to end Thursday’s session at 13,841.35
The Canadian dollar stepped back 0.32 cents to 100.92 cents U.S.
The tech sector was the major support, up almost 4% after software company Open Text Corp. nearly doubled its second-quarter profit to $37.1 million U.S. On an adjusted basis, income was $70.5 million or $1.21 per share, up 41% from $50.1 million or 87 cents per share.
That easily beat analyst expectations of $1.07 U.S. per share and Open Text stock surged $5.98, or 12%, to $56.03.
The company also announced that it plans to expand its software business by paying $182 million cash to buy Metastorm Inc. of Baltimore, Md.
Elsewhere in the sector, Research In Motion Ltd. was up $1.70 at $62.12.
Gold stocks also advanced, with Goldcorp Inc. gaining $1.17 to $41.49 while Barrick Gold Corp. climbed $1.31 to $48.25.
Fronteer Gold Inc. was a major advancer, up $4.06 or 39.6% at $14.31 on news the miner is being taken over by U.S. mining giant Newmont Mining Corp. in a cash-and-share deal that values the Canadian miner at $2.3 billion.
Newmont is offering $14 in cash for each Fronteer share, as well as one common share in a new company, Pilot Gold, which will own certain Fronteer exploration assets.
The financials group climbed, with Bank of Montreal ahead 90 cents at $59.20, while Manulife Financial ran up 69 cents to $18.61.
The energy sector was up as Suncor Energy advanced 35 cents to $41.96 and Imperial Oil climbed 97 cents to $45.92.
The base metals sector edged up as March copper was unchanged at $4.54 U.S. a pound. Equinox Minerals jumped 60 cents to $6.75 while Teck Resources declined 81 cents to $62.89.
In other earnings news, First Uranium Corp. shares were flat at $1.06 after it said Wednesday its third-quarter loss increased 26% to $18.1 million. Revenue increased to $51.3 million from just under $32 million.
And pipeline operator Enbridge Inc. said fourth-quarter net income was $326 million, or 64 cents per common share, below expectations of 69 cents per share from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
Enbridge also said it will boost its dividend by 15% to 49 cents per common share on March 1 and its shares dipped 91 cents to $57.60.
Elsewhere, Maple Leaf Foods Inc. has agreed to bring Gregory Boland, the CEO of major shareholder West Face Capital, onto its board of directors. West Face currently owns 11.4% of Maple Leaf Foods and had complained that the board was too big and alleged that some directors were too closely involved on a personal level with the McCain family, the controlling shareholder.
Maple Leaf shares gained 22 cents to $11.62.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange improved 39.74 points to 2,363.91, while the Nasdaq Canada index leaped 17.02 to 780.77.
In Toronto, all but one of the 14 subgroups stayed positive all day, led by information technology, zooming ahead 3.9%, followed by gold, gaining 3.5%, and materials, up 2.2%.
The consumer staples group proved the lone naysayer, shrinking 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks turned higher Thursday, but gains were modest as investors digested comments about the economy from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who said a weak job market continues to weigh on the recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrials returned to the green 20.29 points to 12,062.30, led by Cisco and Pfizer.
The S&P 500 index regained 3.07 points to 1,307.10. Estee Lauder was the biggest winner on the broad index, with shares surging more than 14%. The cosmetics maker posted higher-than-expected profit and sales for the second fiscal quarter, and raised its guidance for the
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index nosed ahead 4.32 points to 2,753.88
Strength in retail stocks helped the tech-heavy index move higher, as January same-store sales climbed 4.2%. Sears Holdings and Ross Stores were among the big gainers on the Nasdaq, with shares gaining about 6%.
Limited Brands, Gap, Nordstrom and Costco were also higher.
Shares of Dow component Merck dropped 3%. The drug maker logged a quarterly loss that slightly beat expectations but issued a cautious outlook for the full year.
Shares of Ameriprise Financial fell more than 7% after the Minneapolis-based money manager's fourth-quarter results badly missed expectations.
Shares of KFC-parent Yum Brands added 3.4%, a day after the company reported strong earnings.
On the economic front, the U.S. government report on weekly jobless claims was slightly better than expected, with 415,000 Americans filing new claims for unemployment in the week ended Jan. 29.
Economists had expected 425,000 jobless claims, according to a consensus of opinion compiled by Briefing.com. But the four-week moving average edged higher.
A report from the Commerce Department showed that factory orders rose 0.2% in December. Orders were forecast to have dropped 0.6%, after increasing 1.3% in November.
The ISM services sector index for January rose to 59.4. Economists were expecting the index to have decreased to 57 from 57.1 in December; any reading over 50 indicates expansion in the sector.
During a luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington, Bernanke defended his controversial bond-buying policy. But he also cautioned that, while the economy is on the mend, unemployment remains an issue.
The government report due before the bell Friday is forecast to show that employers added 148,000 jobs in January, up from 103,000 in December. Economists are expecting the jobless rate to tick up to 9.5% after falling to 9.4% in the previous reading.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 3.54% from 3.49% Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery fell seven cents to $90.79 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for April delivery added $4 to settle at $1,336.10 U.S. an ounce.
