Resource stocks led the way to a higher session on the Toronto stock market Wednesday while traders awaited details of a plan to contain Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.
The S&P/TSX composite index picked up 76.31 points to end the day at 12,186.06
The Canadian dollar gained 1.08 cents to 99.44 cents U.S.
The energy sector rose while Suncor Energy gained 12 cents to $31.26.
The base metals sector was up as metal prices advanced while the December copper contract on the Nymex gained nine cents to $3.52 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources advanced $1.51 to $37.33.
Shares in miner Sherritt International Corporation gained 62 cents to $5.50 as it said its third-quarter net profits more than doubled to $45.5 million or 16 cents a share. Revenues in the quarter rose to $466.4 million from $412.7 million.
The gold sector was ahead as Barrick Gold Corp. climbed 14 cents to $48.19.
Industrials were also higher, helped along by a solid earnings report from Canadian National Railways. The railroad beat expectations as its net profit increased by 18.5% to $659 million or $1.46 a share in the third quarter on higher revenues. Its shares were $1.43 higher to $76.56.
Elsewhere on the earnings front, Rogers Communications Inc. said third-quarter profits rose 29% to $491 million or 87 cents a share as it grew results at its wireless operations amid heightened competition. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had on average expected earnings per share of 82 cents and Rogers shares gained 41 cents to $35.93.
Media and entertainment company Corus Entertainment Inc. said fourth-quarter net income from continuing operations rose to $29.2 million from $4.2 million a year ago. Revenue increased 7% to $200.2 million helped by "exceptional" revenue and profit growth from television division and its shares advanced two cents to $19.59.
In other corporate news, Air Canada is withdrawing its court challenge of an arbitrator’s ruling on a key pension deal that was part of a binding agreement with the union representing service workers. The company says there were valid legal arguments for a judicial review. But it added it is more important employees have clarity on the company’s planned pension reforms. Air Canada shares edged down three cents to $1.33.
MI Developments Inc., the former real-estate arm of Magna International Inc., has decided to convert into a real-estate investment trust, increase its quarterly dividend dramatically and increase its debt level. Its shares ran up $1.83 to $31.68.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was positive 5.35 points to 1,570.80 while the Nasdaq Canada index was negative 6.70 points to 428.78
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive on the day. Metals and mining stocks hiked 4.4%, global base metals improved 2.2% and energy issues were up 1%.
The three laggards were information technology, down 1.7%; gold and telecoms were down 0.1% each.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, by late afternoon Wednesday, investors started betting that European leaders could be close to a deal. All indexes closed the trading day higher.
The Dow Jones Industrials ended the day up 162.42 points, or 1.4%, to 11,869.04
The S&P 500 gained 12.95 points to 1,242, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gathered 12.25 points to 2,650.67.
The region's leaders released only sketchy details that they might be closer to a compromise to shore up funding for troubled E.U. nations. Still, that was enough to spark an afternoon rally in stocks.
European government heads have pledged to unveil a comprehensive plan to address the region's debt and banking crisis at the end of Wednesday's summit.
Before heading off to Brussels for the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed the Bundestag in Berlin about changes to Europe's stability fund. Following Merkel's address, the German parliament approved a number of measures to boost the fund.
Earlier in the day shares had been pushed lower as disappointing earnings from Amazon dragged on the tech and Internet sectors, hitting other Nasdaq traded stocks like Priceline and Salesforce.
The online retailer missed forecasts by a wide margin. The selling spilled over to other tech stocks, with shares of Microsoft and Cisco weighing on the Dow.
Boeing helped the Dow stay out of negative territory though, as the airplane maker reported better-than-expected earnings and completed the first successful commercial flight of its 787 Dreamliner
Shares of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion fell after the company pushed back the release date of the new operating system for its PlayBook tablet to February of next year.
Ford said it earned $1.6 billion U.S. in third quarter, slightly less than a year earlier. It's the automaker's ninth straight profitable quarter, but the company did not announce the return of its dividend that investors had been seeking.
Sprint Nextel announced a loss of 10 cents U.S. per share in the third quarter, after losing 30 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. But shares dropped 7% despite reporting strong subscriber growth.
Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia unveiled two new smartphones Wednesday as it sought to boost its flagging fortunes in the booming market.
Nokia is trying to gain traction in the smartphone market, dominated by Apple's iPhones and Google's Android operating system.
On the economic front, new orders for manufactured durable goods decreased $1.5 billion U.S., or 0.8% to $200.3 billion U.S. in September, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday.
Analysts surveyed by Briefing.com had expected orders to drop 1%, following a 0.1% drop in August.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury lost ground, raising the yield to 2.20% from 2.13% late Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for October delivery slipped $2.34 to $90.83 U.S. a barrel
Gold futures for December delivery rose $23.10 to close at $1,723.50 U.S. an ounce.
