The Toronto Stock Exchange was the North American market with the greatest gains Wednesday afternoon, after investor sentiment turned negative south of the border on mixed earnings reports.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index remained in the green 48.90 points to end the day at 12,579.61
The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.79 cents to 102.06 cents U.S., as the greenback fell against other currencies. The lower American dollar pushed commodity prices higher since most are sold in U.S. currency.
On the TSX, the energy index gained with shares in Encana Corp. gaining 1.3% or 33 cents to $25.32.
The mining sector regained ground lost Tuesday and shares in miner HudBay Minerals Inc. rose 24 cents to $12.36.
ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. swung to a first-quarter loss of $5 million from a profit of $5.2 million a year ago, as it books losses from its discontinued operations. Revenues increased to $126.9 million from $101.8 million. Shares lost 4.8% or 33 cents to $6.55.
Paladin Labs Inc. announced Wednesday that it plans to acquire Labopharm Inc. in a friendly deal that values the fellow Quebec company at more than $20 million. Paladin has agreed to buy all the shares of the Laval-based Labopharm for just over 28.5 cents per share in cash.
Labopharm stock rose 62%, or 10.5 cents to 27.5 cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
And U.S. chipmaker Microsemi Corp. officially launched a hostile, $548.7-million U.S. takeover bid for Ottawa-based Zarlink Semiconductor Inc. Zarlink shares rose 8.5% or 28 cents to $3.59.
Shares in Excellon Resources Inc. fell 13% or 11 cents to 71 cents each after it said production at its La Platosa property in Durango, Mexico, has been halted due to protests that have limited access to the area.
On matters economic, Statistics Canada reported that, for the first time since March 2010, foreigners reduced their holdings of Canadian securities in June, selling $3.5 billion worth after buying $15.3 billion in May.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange hiked 11.76 points to 1,820.19 while the Nasdaq Canada index slid 2.59 points to 493.95
In Toronto, 10 of the 14 subgroups were positive, led by global base metals and the metals and mining group, each up 1%, while gold grew 0.8%.
The four laggards were weighed by consumer discretionary and information technology issues, which each dipped 0.3%, and health-care, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks found their way above the surface, in a thinly traded session Wednesday, as weakness in the technology sector dragged the market lower.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved 4.28 points higher by day’s end to 11,410.20
The S&P 500 nipped ahead 1.12 points to 1,193.88, while the Nasdaq fell 11.97 to 2,511.48
Shares of big technology companies were among the weakest performers. Dell plunged 10% after the computer maker issued a disappointing sales outlook late Monday. Hewlett-Packard tumbled over 4%.
Stocks opened higher following upbeat quarterly results from Target. But the gains faded in the afternoon, and investors gravitated toward more defensive stocks.
Telecommunications companies Verizon and AT&T both added about 1.5%.
Shares of financial firms, which have underperformed the market this year, also provided bright spots. JPMorgan, Bank of America and American Express all gained over 1%.
Overall, traders remain wary given the uncertain outlook for the U.S. economy and the challenges facing European leaders as they struggle to resolve the festering debt crisis hanging over the euro-zone.
Those concerns were behind the extreme volatility that rocked stock markets around the world last week. But trading has been more subdued this week with many shell-shocked investors moving to the sidelines or taking a vacation.
On Wednesday, only about 500 million shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange. Thin trading volumes can often lead to volatility in stock prices.
U.S. stocks fell Tuesday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy spoke about Europe's ongoing debt troubles, but offered little in the way of action.
Target stock jumped 2% after the discount retailer posted earnings ahead of forecast and delivered an outlook for the current quarter and year that were slightly above consensus estimates.
Abercrombie & Fitch reported quarterly earnings and sales that beat analysts' expectations. But the stock took a hit after company executives sounded cautious in a conference call with analysts.
Dell shares fell more 10%. Late Tuesday, the number-three PC seller cut its sales growth forecast for the remainder of fiscal 2012 due to "a more uncertain demand environment." Dell said it expects sales to rise been 1% and 5%, down from the previous range of growth between 5% and 9%.
Shares of number-one PC maker Hewlett-Packard -- which reports earnings results Thursday -- were also under pressure Wednesday, falling over 4%.
On the economic front, the U.S. Labor Department's Producer Price Index, which measures wholesale inflation, rose 0.2% in July.
Economists were expecting July PPI to come in flat, after being down 0.4% in June.
Core PPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, jumped 0.4% last month -- slightly more than expected. The core index also rose 0.4% in June.
Prices on the 10-year Treasury note gained territory, lowering yields to 2.16% from Tuesday’s 2.21%. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for September delivery moved upward 86 cents to $87.51 U.S. a barrel
Gold futures for December delivery rose $1.90 to $1,795.70 U.S. an ounce
