TSX Ends Higher On Financial Stocks -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks ended higher for a second straight session on Thursday, after some strong performance by the financial sector with upbeat earnings reports from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Toronto-Dominion.

Mining and information technology stocks also moved up, but a sharp decline in energy shares offset the gains, with crude oil prices tumbling about 5.5 percent.

Most European markets ended positive Thursday, with a boost in investor sentiment after a slew of earnings reports from the region and some key economic data. Eurozone economic confidence and German consumer confidence both came in better than anticipated.

Markets in the United States ended mixed with only the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended higher, moving closer to its record highs. Some weaker than expected economic data has also pressured the markets, with weekly jobless claims rising more than expected and consumer prices dropped more than anticipated.

Consumer prices in the U.S. fell a little more than anticipated due largely to the significant drop in oil prices, while U.S. durable goods orders increased much more than expected in January, on a notable rebound in orders for transportation equipment.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index closed Thursday at 15,241.16, up 12.59 points or 0.08 percent. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,318.36 and a low of 15,241.16.

On Wednesday, the index closed up 63.60 points or 0.42 percent, at 15,228.57. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,258.85 and a low of 15,155.11.

The heavyweight Financial Index gained 0.61 percent, as Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) added 0.52 percent, Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) jumped 1.11 percent, and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) added 0.35 percent. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) slipped 0.45 percent after having surged over 3 percent yesterday following earnings report.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) soared 3.26 percent, after reporting first quarter adjusted earnings of C$2.36 per share, which surpassed the consensus estimate of C$2.27 per share.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) gained 0.74 percent, after reporting first-quarter adjusted earnings of C$1.12 per share, in line with expectations. The company also increased its quarterly dividend by 9 percent.

Crude oil tumbled over five percent to end at a one-month low on renewed concerns of oversupplies after crude stockpiles in the U.S. surged much more than anticipated last week, even as the dollar strengthened sharply.

U.S. crude oil inventories jumped 8.4 million barrels in the week ended February 20, while analysts expected an increase of 3.7 million barrels.

The Energy Index dived 1.75 percent with U.S. crude oil futures for April delivery, plunging $2.82 or 5.5 percent to settle at $48.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday.

Among energy stocks, Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. (PRE.TO) fell 4.77 percent, Canadian Oil Sands (COS.TO) tumbled 6.42 percent, and Penn West Petroleum Ltd. (PWT.TO) plummeted 9.56 percent.

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ.TO) declined 1.81 percent, while Crescent Point Energy Corp. (CPG.TO) fell 2.42 percent. Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) shed 1.94 percent, while Talisman Energy (TLM.TO) gained 0.52 percent. Encana Corp. (ECA.TO) added 0.79 percent.

Gold futures ended ended at a one-week high amid renewed expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates mid-year and on some mixed economic data from the U.S.

The Gold Index added 1.56 percent, with gold for April delivery gaining $8.60 or 0.7 percent to settle at $1,210.10 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday.

Among gold stocks, Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) gained 3.54 percent and Goldcorp (G.TO) moved up 1.60 percent. IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) gathered 2.77 percent and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) added 0.57 percent. Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) gained 1.37 percent.

The Capped Materials Index inched up 0.16 percent, although Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (POT.TO) shed 2.96 percent and Agrium Inc. (AGU.TO) fell 0.49 percent.

The Diversified Metals & Mining Index moved up 1.12 percent, as First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.TO) jumped 4.43 percent and Teck Resources (TCK-B.TO) added 0.98 percent.

Sherritt International Corp. (S.TO) dropped 2.76 percent,HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO) surrendered 1.23 percent, Finning International Inc. (FTT.TO) shed 0.20 percent, and Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN.TO) dived 2.01 percent.

The Health Care Index gathered 0.55 percent, with Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (VRX.TO) gaining 2.71 percent and Catamaran Corp. (CCT.TO) dropping 1.88 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index edged down 0.01 percent, with Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) up 0.38 percent and Air Canada (AC.TO) down 0.48 percent.

The Information Technology Index jumped 2.17 percent, as BlackBerry Limited (BB.TO) gained 3.06 percent, Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) added 2.30 percent, and Descartes Systems Group Inc. (DSG.TO) gathered 0.47 percent.

Constellation Software (CSU.TO) jumped 6.34 percent, after reporting fourth quarter adjusted earnings of $4.09 per share, compared to $3.26 per share a year ago.

The Capped Telecommunication Index moved up 0.41 percent, with BCE gaining 0.24 percent, TELUS Corp. (T.TO) up 0.56 percent, and Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI.B.TO) dipped 0.09 percent.

Canadian Tire (CTC-A.TO)surged 8.85 percent, after reporting fourth-quarter net income of C$2.44 per share, up from C$2.32 per share last year.

In economic news, first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose much more than expected in the week ended February 21, a report from the Labor Department showed Thursday. Initial jobless claims jumped to 313,000, an increase of 31,000 from the previous week's revised level of 282,000. Economists expected jobless claims to edge up to 290,000 from the 283,000 originally reported for the previous week.

U.S. consumer prices fell slightly more than expected in January with energy prices declining substantially, a Labor Department report showed Thursday. The consumer price index tumbled by 0.7 percent in January after falling by 0.3 percent in each of the two previous months. Economists expected the index to drop by 0.6 percent.

U.S. durable goods orders increased much more than expected in January, reflecting a notable rebound in orders for transportation equipment, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The durable goods orders surged 2.8 percent in January after tumbling a revised 3.7 percent in December. Economists expected durable goods orders to jump 1.7 percent compared to the 3.4 percent drop reported for the previous month.

Eurozone economic confidence strengthened to a 7-month high in February, data from the European Commission showed Thursday. The economic confidence index rose more-than-expected to 102.1 in February from 101.4 in the prior month. It was expected to improve to 102.

German consumer confidence is set to rise to its highest level since October 2001 as consumer optimism turned stronger underpinned by upward trend in economic expectations, a survey by market research group GfK showed Thursday. The forward-looking consumer confidence index rose more-than-expected to 9.7 in March from 9.3 in February. The index was forecast to rise to 9.5. This was the highest score since October 2001.

Germany's jobless rate remained unchanged at a record low in February, the Federal Labor Agency reported Thursday. The jobless rate came in at seasonally adjusted 6.5 percent in February, the same rate as seen in January and in line with economists' expectations.

Germany's unemployment rate declined in January, data from Destatis showed Thursday. The adjusted jobless rate fell slightly to 4.7 percent from 4.8 percent in December.

The number of unemployed people in France decreased in January over the previous month, data from the labor ministry showed Wednesday. The number of people claiming unemployment benefits fell 19,100 over the previous month to 3.48 million in January. This marked the first decline since August.

The U.K. economy expanded as estimated in the fourth quarter, the second estimates published by the Office for National Statistics revealed Thursday. Gross domestic product grew 0.5 percent sequentially in the fourth quarter, in line with the estimate released on January 27. The rate of growth eased from 0.7 percent in the third quarter.