The buyers returned to the markets Thursday, sending all major indices in New York and Toronto soaring.
The S&P TSX Composite Index was ahead 162.76 points to 8,855.85, as investors bought up mining stocks and early losses in the financial sector disappeared.
New York markets rallied on a mix of optimism about the government's new version of the bank bailout plan and better-than-expected monthly sales from Wal-Mart Stores.
Bombardier shares were seven cents lower to $3.65 after the company said it is cutting 1,360 jobs, or about 4.5% of its workforce, because of falling production of Learjet and Challenger executive jets. The Montreal-based company says it expects more challenges throughout 2009.
Investors were also focused on Research In Motion Ltd. Its shares rose 47 cents to $69.57 U.S. after the Ontario Securities Commission arrived at a settlement with co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie over a prohibited practice known as stock option back-dating, which occurred at the technology company from 1996 until 2006. Balsillie was slapped with a $5-million fine while Lazaridis will have to pay a $1.5-million penalty.
Balsillie will also be prevented from being a director of any company for a year - although he'll be allowed to remain an executive at RIM.
Much of the base metals sector’s strength came from stocks such as Teck Cominco Ltd., which climbed 27 cents to $4.97 and FNX Mining, which gained 51 cents to $4.25.
Barrick Gold Corp. carried much of the gold sector, running ahead $1.22 to $46.95, while Goldcorp Inc. gained 42 cents to $36.94.
The TSX financial sector rose as Royal Bank gained 53 cents to $31.15 and CIBC advanced $1.48 to $46.92.
The TSX energy sector was up, powered by the likes of Husky Energy Inc. shares were down 75 cents to $29.18 after a sharp drop in earnings and a dividend cut. Husky earned $232 million in the final three months of 2008, down from $1.1 billion a year earlier.
Oilexco Inc. plunged 3.5 cents to 16 cents after lenders demanded immediate repayment of a $547.5-million U.S. credit facility and a 100-million-pound credit line at insolvent Oilexco North Sea Ltd.
The consumer staples sector moved ahead, as shares in Saputo Inc. jumped $2.45 to $21.20. The cheese giant's stock had fallen 4% Wednesday after quarterly profit fell nearly 30% despite a 19% sales increase.
Shares in Certicom Corp. were up six cents to $3.22 after it said BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. is leading the bidding war for the encryption technology company. RIM's offer of $3 per share is "superior" to a bid of $2.10 per share from California-based VeriSign Inc.
Utility operator Fortis Inc. says fourth-quarter profits slipped to $76 million from $79 million in line with analyst expectations. Quarterly revenue rose to $1.2 billion from $1 billion. Its shares were up 28 cents at $23.82.
Economically speaking, Canada’s 2009 budget will generate stimulus of $32 billion over two years for the world’s eighth-largest economy, about one-fifth less than the level estimated by the government, the head of Parliament’s budget office said today. Kevin Page told lawmakers the Canadian government’s estimate of a $40 billion stimulus from its budget over the next two years is a "maximum or gross" projection.
The Canadian dollar advanced 0.19 cents to $81.36 cents U.S.
BAYSTREET
Of the 13 TSX sub-groups, 10 ended the day in the black, led by metals and mining, which galloped 8.4%, materials, 3.8% to the upside, and gold, shining 2.6% brighter.
Two groups lost some luster - utilities, off 0.3% and telecoms, down 0.2%. Health-care stocks were unchanged on the day.
The TSX Venture Exchange was up 8.17 points to 898.22, while the NASDAQ Canada index surged 5.71, at 556.32
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones industrials index sprinted 106.41 points to 8,063.07 The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 13.60 points to 845.83. The NASDAQ composite index recovered 31.19 points to 1,546.24.
Stocks slumped in the morning after a spike in jobless claims to a 26-year low exacerbated worries about the duration of the recession. Weekly jobless claims rose 35,000 to 626,000, hitting the highest level in 26 years. The figure was worse than what economists were expecting, according to a Briefing.com survey.
But the market erased losses and turned higher as investors focused on the few retailers that posted better-than-expected January sales.
Anticipation about provisions in the government's new bank bailout plan helped as well.
Retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Macy's Inc. turned in better-than-expected reports.
Wal-Mart's January sales beat Wall Street's forecasts after the chain drew shoppers focused on necessities like groceries. Macy's, which this week said it would slash 7,000 jobs, on Thursday raised its fourth-quarter and full-year forecasts after reporting its sales.
Wal-Mart shares rose $1.90 to $48.32 U.S. while Macy's gained 49 cents to $8.81 U.S.
Cisco Systems shares turned around an early loss to add 49 cents to $16.33 U.S. as the company beat market profit expectations by two cents per share even as earnings dropped 27% from a year ago. But the tech bellwether said orders declined dramatically in January.
Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.89% from 2.94% Wednesday.
U.S. light crude oil for March delivery rose 85 cents to settle at $41.17 U.S. a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
COMEX gold for April delivery rose $12 to settle at $914.20 U.S. an ounce.
