TSX advanceS amid miXed earningS
• The Toronto stock market was higher Thursday amid earnings reports from the insurance, retail, manufacturing and resource sectors.
The S&P/TSX composite index jumped 101.16 points to 14,001.65.
A major decliner was Bombardier Inc. Its stock tumbled 36¢ or 8.91% to $3.68 on extremely heavy volume of 49 million shares as the company reported that it had US$129-million of quarterly adjusted net income, or US7¢ per share, which was US4¢ below estimates.
It also said that delays in first deliveries of its CSeries aircraft will add about US$1billion in development costs and capitalized interest.
“Obviously, there’s not much confidence,” said Ian Nakamoto, director of research at 3MACS.
“People are taking a more jaundiced view saying, OK this quarter is fine in terms of the cash flow generation but you missed your earnings, what’s it going to be like in the next year?”
The Canadian dollar was up 0.17 of a cent to US91.1¢.
New York indexes chalked up solid gains even as January retail sales fell 0.4% against the 0.3% decline that economists had expected.
The Dow Jones industrials rose 63.65 points to 16,027.59. The Nasdaq was up 39.38 points at 4240.67 and the S&P 500 index climbed 10.57 points to 1829.83.
U.S. markets were lifted by major acquisition activity as Comcast Corp. confirmed that it plans to buy Time Warner Cable for about US$45.2-billion in stock in a deal that would combine the top two cable TV companies in the United States. Also, tire maker Goodyear posted quarterly profit that beat expectations. The gold sector rose about 4% as bullion was US$5.10 higher at US$1,300.40 an ounce.
Barrick Gold Corp. lost US$2.83-billion in its latest quarter but beat on revenue and its shares gained $1.27 to C$22.08.
The financials sector rose 0.77%. Sun Life Financial Inc. posted operating income that nearly doubled during the most recent quarter to $642-million or $1.05 per share, well above estimates of 68¢ per share. Its shares gained 82¢ to $38.35.
The consumer discretion sector also helped lift the TSX as Canadian Tire Corp. earned quarterly net income of $191-million or $2.35 a share, up from $162.8-million a year earlier. Revenue was $3.328-billion, compared with $3.166-billion. Its shares gained $2.94 to $97.69.
The energy sector was up 0.7% as crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped US2¢ to US$100.35 a barrel.
But shares in Cenovus Energy Inc. lost 87¢ to $28.77 as the oil sands producer reported $212-million or 28¢ a share of operating earnings, compared with a yearearlier operating loss of $188-million (25¢). Cenovus also says its quarterly dividend will rise 10% to 26.62¢ per share.
The base metals sector led decliners, down 2.11% on the TSX as March copper closed unchanged at US$3.25 pound. Teck Resources blamed lower prices for a lower adjusted fourth-quarter profit of $227-million (40¢). Teck shares fell $1.86 or 6.68% to $26.