Strong retail Sales, mining deals lift tsx
TORONTO
• The Toronto stock market was higher Monday amid a strong reading on U.S. retail sales.
The S&P/TSX composite index climbed 26.74 points to 14,284.43 with gains led by mining stocks amid major deal-making in the resource sector.
The Canadian dollar advanced 0.22 of a cent to US91.3¢.
U.S. indexes also found a lift from Citigroup earnings that beat expectations.
The Dow Jones industrials j umped 146.49 points to 16,173.24 as the bank reported adjusted earnings of US$1.30 a share, US16¢ higher than expectations and its shares ran ahead 4.36% in New York.
U.S. retail sales rose 1.1% in March, the best showing since September 2012. The government also revised February to a 0.7% gain, more than double its previous estimate. Sales had fallen in January and December amid severe winter weather.
“I guess now we’ll get the true colours of the economy, won’t we?” said Ian Nakamoto at 3MACS. “There’s not going to be any excuses about weather.”
The Nasdaq was 22.96 points higher at 4022.69 while the S&P 500 index rose 14.92 points to 1830.61. Despite the positive showing, traders are cautious amid concerns about stock valuations, Chinese growth prospects and corporate earnings.
Meanwhile, financial analysts expect earnings for companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 to drop 1.6% from a year earlier, according to FactSet, a financial data provider. That was a reversal from the start of the year, when they expected a jump of 4.3%.
“I mean, you have expectations pretty low, ” Mr. Nakamoto said.
The TSX base metals sector led advancers, up 1.79% as copper rose a penny to US$3.05 a pound and Sherritt International ran up 40¢ or 9.3% to $4.70.
Mining giant Glencore Xstrata said it was selling its Las Bambas copper project in Peru to a group of Chinese state-owned companies for US$5.85-billion. Glencore Xstrata is also buying Caracal Energy Inc., which has terminated plans to merge with Calgary-based TransGlobe Energy as a result. TransGlobe said it would distribute the break fee it receives from Caracal to shareholders through a special dividend of 10¢ per share. TransGlobe shares gained 23¢ to $8.12.
And Texas-based Stabilis Energy says it signed an agreement to buy substantially all the liquefied natural gas business of a subsidiary of Encana Corp. Financial terms of the deal involving Encana Natural Gas Inc. weren’t disclosed. Encana shares climbed 13¢ to $24.78.
On Canada’s West Coast, the residents of Kitimat, B.C., have voted against Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project in a non-binding plebiscite by a vote of 1,793 to 1,278. The federal cabinet is expected to release its decision on Northern Gateway by June. Enbridge slipped 41¢ to $50.76.
The gold sector improved by about 1.18% as bullion gained US$8.50 to US$1,327.20 an ounce. The energy sector was ahead 0.37% with crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange up US31¢ to a six-week high of US$104.05 a barrel. The TSX finished well off session highs amid weakness in telecom and utilities stocks.