The Toronto stock market showed its muscle Wednesday, strengthened by rising resource and financial sector stocks that benefited from word the International Monetary Fund is looking to bolster its financial firepower to help defuse a global economic crisis.
The S&P TSX Composite Index concluded Wednesday up 94.69 points to 12,327.52.
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.39 cents to 98.86 cents U.S.
On the TSX, the financial sector rose while Royal Bank advanced 70 cents to $52.52 while Bank of Nova Scotia gained 80 cents to $52.61.
Major deal making helped send the TSX industrials sector up sharply. Shares in Finning International Inc. climbed $1.68, or 6.9%, to $26.08 after it said it will acquire the Caterpillar distribution and support business formerly operated by Bucyrus in South America, the U.K., and Western Canada.
The deal is worth $465 million U.S. Vancouver-based Finning is the world’s biggest Caterpillar dealer.
Canadian National Railways advanced 80 cents to $78.72.
The energy sector ran up as the February crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange improved on Tuesday’s $2 jump. Suncor Energy gained 75 cents to $33.97 and Cenovus Energy climbed 51 cents to $35.57.
The base metals sector gained as other commodity prices were weak with March copper ahead two cents at $3.75 U.S. a pound after the Chinese economic report in particular sent the metal jumping nine cents Tuesday. China is the world’s biggest copper consumer.
Teck Resources was up $1.06 to $40.91 while HudBay Minerals was ahead 30 cents to $11.00.
The gold sector sank, as Goldcorp Inc. gave back 23 cents to $45.44. Rival Barrick Gold shed 23 cents to $48.52.
The consumer discretionary sector provided lift with auto parts giant Magna International ahead $1.19, or nearly 3%, to $41.19.
Meantime, the IMF said it aims to add $500 billion U.S. to its resources so it can give out new loans to help mitigate a worsening financial crisis. The Washington-based institution said its staff estimates that countries around the world will need about $1 trillion U.S. in loans over the coming years.
Most of the concerns centre on the 17-nation euro-zone, which has been embroiled in a debt crisis for around two years.
Thanks to some $200 billion U.S. that European countries have recently promised to the IMF, it is already more than one third on its way to reaching its fundraising goal.
The euro firmed above $1.28 against the U.S. dollar on the news.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange rallied 12.33 points to 1,550.05, while the Nasdaq Canada index fought its way into the green 5.07 points to 408.49
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups gained on the day. The metals and mining group was 2.5% stronger to lead the charge, followed by global base metals, spiking 2.4%, and industrials, up 2.3%.
The lone laggard was in gold, down 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks advanced Wednesday, as investors welcomed the International Monetary Fund plan to boost its bailout fund to contain Europe's debt crisis.
An upbeat report on the housing market and Goldman Sachs earnings also lifted the market.
The Dow Jones Industrials ended the day ahead 96.88 points to 12,579.
The S&P 500 added 14.37 points to 1,308.04, while the Nasdaq Composite hiked 41.63 points to 2,769.71.
Stocks have gotten off to a strong start in 2012, as investors focus on improvements in Europe, strong U.S. economic data and a decent batch of corporate earnings.
All three major indexes are hovering at their highest levels in months -- Dow and S&P 500 are at six-month highs, while the Nasdaq is at a three-month high. All three indexes have also logged decent gains for the year. The Dow and S&P 500 are up about 3%, while the Nasdaq is up more than 5%.
Investors also had the latest bank earnings report to mull over, with Goldman Sachs reporting fourth-quarter earnings that beat forecasts but revenue well below expectations. Goldman shares spiked almost 7% as CEO Lloyd Blankfein said in a statement that he was seeing "encouraging" signs of improvement in the markets and economy.
Goldman's mixed results came a day after Citigroup missed earnings estimates, while results from Wells Fargo were in line with expectations. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley are scheduled to release their results on Thursday.
Yahoo shares rose, after the Web portal announced late Tuesday that co-founder Jerry Yang has resigned from the board of directors and all other positions at the company.
Shares of Carnival rose modestly, after falling 14% the day before. The cruise line operator said it may suffer a more than $100 million U.S. hit to its profit, from the grounding of the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy
Greek government officials and the group representing private sector investors and banks resumed talks Wednesday, trying to nail down how big a writedown private investors are willing to take on the country's bonds.
The talks ended Wednesday without an agreement, but will resume Thursday. Institute of International Finance director Charles Dallara, who represents the private sector investors and banks that hold Greek debt, said final terms could be reached in the days ahead.
Economically speaking, producer prices fell 0.1% in December, the government reported Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected a rise of 0.1% during the month.
A report from the Federal Reserve showed that industrial production rose 0.4% in December, slightly below expectations, while capacity utilization rose to 78.1%, in line with economist expectations.
Investors were also encouraged by a better-than-expected report on the housing market. The National Association of Home Builders' Housing Market Index jumped to a four-year high of 25 in January, from a reading of 21 the month before. The index, which measures homebuilders' confidence, has been trending higher for the past four months.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note dipped, pushing yields up to 1.90% from Tuesday’s 1.85%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery eked ahead another four cents to $100.75 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery rose $4.30 to $1,659.90 U.S. an ounce.
