Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Toronto stock market kick off new year on a positive note on record commodities

Toronto stock market kick off new year on a positive note on record commodities : TORONTO - The Toronto stock market kicked off the new year in positive territory on the back of higher oil prices and a strong performance Monday in the U.S. The S&P/TSX composite index added 52.4 points at 13,495.62, led by solid gains in the mining and energy sectors.

The Toronto Venture Exchange added 20.69 points to 2,308.24. The Canadian dollar opened the year above parity with the U.S. dollar, down 0.17 cents to 100.37 cents US.

The February crude contract lost 75 cents to US$90.80 a barrel but continued to hover around a two year high. On the TSX, shares in Encana Corp. added 66 cents, or 2.2 per cent to C$29.75.

Meanwhile, the February gold contract lost $31.90 to US$1,391. On the TSX, the materials and gold indices were the few sectors in the red. Shares in Goldcorp Inc. fell 2.7 per cent or 1.24 to C$44.64.

The March copper contract on the Nymex was unchanged at a record US$4.45. The metals and mining sector led TSX advancers, up 2.4 per cent, with shares in Teck Resources up $2.44 or 3.9 per cent at C$64.23.

Elsewhere on the TSX, Bombardier Aerospace (TSX:BBD.B) says it has received firm orders for four Q400 NextGen turboprops from SkyWest Inc. in a transaction valued at US$148 million. Shares were up 40 cents to $5.05.

Atrium Innovations says it has acquired dietary supplement marketer Seroyal International for US$110 million in cash. Shares in the Quebec-based manufacturer and seller of dietary supplements gained five per cent or 78 cents at $16.

The TSX was closed Monday, but global stock markets have started 2011 buoyantly in the wake of a run of upbeat economic data from around the globe.

The TSX starts a new year of trading after logging a gain of slightly more than 14 per cent for 2010 amid high hopes for continued recovery of the U.S. economy.

Stocks in New York got a boost Monday after a survey from the Institute for Supply Management showed manufacturing activity in the U.S. spiked to a six-month high in December.

The upbeat mood in stock markets mostly continued on Wall Street — the Dow Jones industrial average 4.3 points higher at 11,675.1 and the Nasdaq gained 2.47 points to 2,693.99, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 fell 0.9 points to 1,271.

Optimism over the pace of the U.S. recovery has increased over the past few weeks following an agreement between the White House and Congress to extend tax cuts for all Americans and amid growing signs that the labour market is on the turn.

The hope is that Friday's nonfarm payrolls data will show that unemployment is on the way down.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index was up 2.49 per cent, while Germany's DAX gained 0.38 per cent, and France's CAC-40 moved one per cent higher.
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