The Toronto stock market approached the middle of the final session of a dismal 2011 slightly ahead, amid lower oil prices and a further sign that China’s manufacturing sector is faltering.
The S&P/TSX Composite had gained 78.04 points to approach noon at 11,919.74
The Canadian dollar edged up 0.30 cents to 98.32 cents U.S.
The TSX is set to end 2011 about 12% lower than where it started the year and down more than 17% from the market’s high for the year, set in early March.
Among Canadian stocks to watch in this last session of 2011, Canadian-owned BCIF Holding Colombia S.A.S. has won a bid to acquire a Colombian state-owned power company for around $415 million, according to the country's finance ministry.
Miner CaNickel Mining Ltd. said it will cut production at its flagship Bucko Lake Mine by nearly a third, due to unfavourable nickel prices and to preserve capital.
Elsewhere, the Globe and Mail is reporting that activist investor Bill Ackman has recommended to the board of Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. that the railway's current chief executive be replaced by Hunter Harrison, the 67-year old who used to head rival Canadian National Railway until 2009.
HSBC’s China Purchasing Managers’ index for December stood at 48.7, which was slightly better than the 47.7 reading for November. On a quarterly basis, the survey was the weakest since the first quarter of 2009.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 13.11 points to 1,474.66, while the Nasdaq Canada index added 2.39 points to 370.50
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive by noon hour. Industrials surged 1.3%, metals and mining gained 1%, and financials were 0.8% to the good.
The only laggard was health-care, down 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks were lower early Friday, the final trading day of 2011, as investors bade farewell to an otherwise volatile year.
The Dow Jones Industrials dipped 28.65 points by noon to 12,258.40.
The S&P 500 doffed 0.85 points to 1,262.17, while the Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.74 points to 2,614.48.
U.S. stocks posted solid gains Thursday in a thinly traded session as investors focused on signs of strength in the economy before calling it a year.
Shares of American Airlines parent AMR Corp. plunged 35% following news that the company was being delisted from the NYSE as of Jan. 5.
The delisting is occurring because AMR's share price failed to average $1 U.S. over the past 30 days -- the minimum requirement set by the NYSE for listed stocks.
Shares of Yahoo were lower, a day after spiking more than 2% following reports that China's Alibaba Group had hired a lobbying firm to prepare a bid for the U.S. web search pioneer.
Thursday's rebound put the S&P 500 back in the black for the year. The broad index is on track for a modest 0.5% gain in 2011, while the Dow is currently up 6.1% for the year. The Nasdaq is set for a 1.4% loss.
If stocks manage to end 2011 higher, it will mark the third straight year of gains for the major indexes, although far less impressive than the increases in 2009 and 2010, when stocks were recovering from the financial turmoil in 2008.
Meanwhile, the main reason the Dow is faring better than the S&P this year is simply because financial stocks, which had a dismal year, carry less weight in the blue-chip index than they do in the S&P 500.
The Dow is a price-weighted index, so the most influential companies are those with the highest share price, while the cheapest stocks have the least sway on the overall performance of the index.
That means that Bank of America, which plunged almost 60% and was the worst Dow performer in 2011, has the least influence because its stock is just $5 U.S. a pop. Meanwhile, McDonald's, which was the biggest gainer, had a bigger impact with shares above $100 U.S.
The components on the S&P 500, on the other hand, are weighted according to the market value of their outstanding shares.
Because of the difference in methodology, financial stocks make up just 7% of the Dow, while they represent 14% of the S&P 500.
Friday is shaping up to be a quiet day, as many investors have already closed their books for the year.
Investors will be happy to put 2011 to bed. The markets had a choppy year to say the least. From Japan's devastating earthquake to Europe's worsening debt crisis to the ongoing bickering in Washington, stocks experienced some violent swings so it's little wonder that investors are hoping for a quiet end to the year.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained a bit of ground, pushing the yield down to 1.87% from 1.90% Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for January delivery grew seven cents to $99.72 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery added $28.30, or 1.8%, to $1,569.20 U.S. an ounce.
