The Toronto stock market closed fairly flat on Tuesday, as investors weighed lower commodity prices against mostly positive earnings reports streaming in from Canadian and U.S. companies.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index nipped 1.78 points higher to end the session at 13,909.10.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.3 cents to 105.04 cents U.S.
In Canadian earnings news, TransAlta Corp. reported first-quarter net earnings attributable to common shareholders of $204 million, or 92 cents per common share, compared with similar net earnings of $60 million or 27 cents per common share in the same 2010 quarter. Revenue in the quarter ended March 31 was $818 million, up from $696 million. Shares gained 20 cents to $20.75.
Precision Drilling Corp. said first-quarter profits were $66 million, or 23 cents per share compared with net earnings of $57 million, or 20 cents per share a year earlier. Revenue totaled $525 million, up from $373 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were on average expecting Precision to report earnings of 26 cents per share and revenues of $503 million. Shares fell 26 cents to $14.54.
Other Canadian earnings expected Tuesday included Canadian National Railway and Rogers Communications Inc. CN’s stock ballooned 84 to $71.00, just before reporting that its first-quarter net income increased 31% from the year-earlier quarter to $668 million.
As for Rogers, the cable whiz’s shares gained 39 cents to $34.74. Rogers reported quarterly revenue jumped 4% to $3.0 Billion, with adjusted Earnings per Share up 13% to $0.76.
Meanwhile, shares in Equinox Minerals Ltd. fell 3% or 26 cents to $8.11 after hostile bidder Minmetals Resources said it would not try to match an $8.15-per-share offer from Barrick Gold Corp, whose stock stepped back $1.75 to $47.75.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange subtracted 27.55 points to 2,232.50 while the Nasdaq Canada index moved forward 9.31 points to 760.63
In Toronto, eight of the 14 subgroups were higher on the day. The gainers were led by industrials, surging 1.4%, consumer staples, and utilities, up 0.8% each.
Of the half-dozen laggards, gold dipped 1.4%, while material issues were off 1.3%. Metals and mining stocks dipped 1%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks climbed to their highest levels in three years Tuesday afternoon, as investors pored through earnings results and a better-than-expected report on consumer confidence.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 115.49 points to 12,595.40
The S&P 500 gained 11.99 points to 1,347.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index strengthened 21.66 points to 2,847.54.
Both the Dow and the S&P climbed to their highest levels since June 2008, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq touched its highest mark since October 2007.
So far, a third of the S&P 500 companies have opened their books, and 75% have beat expectations, according to Thomson Reuters. Earnings were up almost 19%, while sales have climbed nearly 3%.
One expert said upbeat results from package shipper UPS are particularly compelling given the company's reach into the global economy. Shares of UPS rose 0.7% Tuesday after the company posted a 66% rise in profit and raised its full-year earnings outlook.
The busy week in earnings news also brought the strongest first quarter in 13 years from Ford Motor pushing the automakers's shares up 2%.
3M was among the Dow's leaders, with its shares up more than 2% after the company reported better-than-expected earnings. Cummins led the S&P 500 with an 8% rise after the engine maker surprised investors by doubling its profit.
Delta's stock advanced 10% after the airline announced a narrower loss that analysts were expecting, and also beat sales estimates.
IBM, which reported a better-than-expected first-quarter last week, announced a 15% quarterly dividend increase and said it would buy back more of its shares.
But it wasn't all good news. Lexmark International shares fell 13%, making it the worst performing company in the S&P 500, and Coca-Cola shares lost 1.3% to make it the biggest loser on the Dow. Both reported disappointing earning.
Netflix shares tumbled more than 8%, a day after the company reported solid earnings but issued an outlook that fell short of forecasts. The online movie rental company posted the worst losses in the Nasdaq composite.
Seattle-based Amazon.com is on tap to announce quarterly earnings after the closing bell Tuesday.
On the economic slate, the U.S. Conference Board's consumer confidence index for April rose more than expected to 65.4 from 63.8 the prior month. That bested experts’ predictions of 64.4.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained more ground, lowering yields to 3.32% from Monday’s 3.36%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery gave back 22 cents to $112.06 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for June delivery fell $5.60 to $1,503.50 U.S. an ounce.
