TSX Ends Higher On Global Cues -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks ended higher for a fourth straight session on Thursday tracking rising global equity markets, driven by resource stocks as concerns over Greece and Ukraine eased.

The market climbed back into the green this morning, after facing some early selling pressure with energy and mining stocks leading the pack with commodity prices rebounding.

Markets in Europe rallied to end higher as concerns over Greece and Ukraine eased. Eurozone finance ministers ended their talks on Wednesday without any major breakthrough on the future course of action on Greek debt funding. Nonetheless, European Union leaders are set to meet in Brussels today while eurozone finance ministers will gather again on February 16.

The warring parties in eastern Ukraine have reached an agreement on a road-map to end the months-old fighting, with a ceasefire beginning February 15. Marathon peace talks in neighboring Belarus that began Wednesday, involving leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France, spilled over to Thursday. After 17 hours of talks in the Belarus capital of Minsk, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that the ceasefire will come into effect at 12 a.m. local time Sunday.

The deal also involves a withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line, which, according to Putin, is "extremely important."

Markets in the United States ended higher, as investors appear to have largely ignored some disappointing U.S. economic data, due to some better than expected corporate earnings reports.

In some tepid economic news, a Commerce Department report showed U.S. retail sales to have dropped more than anticipated in January as sales at gas stations declined substantially. Meanwhile, first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. unexpectedly climbed back above the 300,000 level in the week ended February 7, continuing to rebound from a recent pullback.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index closed Wednesday at 15,229.85, up 78.35 points or 0.52 percent. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,236.72 and a low of 15,114.87.

On Wednesday, the index closed up 38.98 points or 0.26 percent, at 15,151.50. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,170.56 and a low of 15,080.74.

Crude oil soared to end sharply higher as the dollar weakened and on demand growth hopes as oil producers continued to scale down investments. Oil prices were also helped by news that Russia and Ukraine agreed to a ceasefire following some extended peace talks in Minsk.

The Energy Index gained 1.33 percent with U.S. crude oil futures for March delivery, surging $2.37 or 4.9 percent to settle at $51.21 percent a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday.

Among energy stocks, Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. (PRE.TO) added 3.50 percent, Canadian Oil Sands (COS.TO) gained 3.74 percent, Talisman Energy (TLM.TO) shed 1.95 percent, and Encana Corp. (ECA.TO) gathered 1.54 percent.

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ.TO) inched 0.03 percent, while Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) gained 1.94 percent and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) added 1.58 percent.

Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) shed 0.20 percent after revealing that the combined oil sands production averaged over 128,000 barrels per day or bbls/d net in 2014, up by 25% from 2013. Total oil production averaged more than 203,000 bbls/d net, an increase of 14% from 2013.

The Diversified Metals & Mining Index surged 4.25 percent, as First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.TO) jumped 6.66 percent, HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO) added 2.32 percent. And Finning International Inc. (FTT.TO) gained 1.26 percent.

Teck Resources (TCK-B.TO) soared 5.96 percent, after reporting adjusted profit for the fourth quarter was C$0.20 per share, compared to C$0.40 per share in the prior year quarter. Analysts expected the company to earn $0.22 per share.

Gold futures ended slightly higher as the dollar weakened on some disappointing economic data from the U.S. and on the ceasefire agreement in eastern Ukraine.

The Global Gold Index inched up 0.09 percent, with gold for April delivery gaining $1.10 or 0.1 percent to settle at $1,220.70 percent on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday.

Among gold stocks, Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) added 0.83 percent, Barrick Gold Corp .(ABX.TO) gained 0.33 percent, and Kinross Gold (K.TO) fell 1.32 percent.

Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) inched up 0.03 percent and Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) gathered 0.50 percent.

Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) shed 0.40 percent, after reporting a fourth quarter adjusted loss per share from continuing operations of $0.02. Analysts expected the company to report profit per share of $0.03.

Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) jumped 4.50 percent. The company reported fourth quarter adjusted net income of US$0.08 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn US$0.03 per share.

The Capped Materials Index added 1.0 percent, mostly on rising gold stocks, with Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (POT.TO) shedding 0.43 percent and Agrium Inc. (AGU.TO) down 0.53 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index added 0.26 percent, as Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) gathered 0.96 percent, National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) climbed 2.21 percent, Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) moved up 0.90 percent, and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) added 0.89 percent.

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) gained 0.99 percent, while Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) added 0.77 percent.

Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO) tanked 6.51 percent, after the company reported fourth quarter net income from continuing operations of C$0.81 per share, compared to C$0.93 per share last year.

The Capped Industrials Index inched up 0.02 percent, with Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) plunging 11.51 percent after reporting fourth quarter adjusted net income of $0.04 per share, compared to $0.07 per share in the year-ago quarter. The company also said that until further notice, there would be no dividend payment on the Class A Shares and the Class B Shares.

Air Canada (AC.TO) gained 3.51 percent after reporting fourth quarter adjusted EPS of C$0.23, which was short of the consensus estimate of C$0.24 per share.

The Information Technology Index dipped 0.13 percent, as BlackBerry Limited (BB.TO) dropped 1.28 percent, Constellation Software (CSU.TO) dropped 0.07 percent, and Descartes Systems Group Inc. (DSG.TO) moved up 1.16 percent.

The Healthcare Index added 0.26 percent, as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (VRX.TO) gained 0.78 percent, Extendicare Inc. (EXE.TO) gained 0.29 percent, and Catamaran Corp. (CCT.TO) dropped 0.51 percent.

The Capped Telecommunication Index fell 0.19 percent, with BCE shedding 0.62 percent and Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI.B.TO) down 1.44 percent.

TELUS Corp. (T.TO) dipped 0.02 percent after its fourth-quarter adjusted net income increased to C$0.53 per share from C$0.49 per share last year. Analysts expected the company to report earnings of C$0.54 per share.

ARC Resources (ARX.TO) slumped 14.29 percent, after having reported fourth-quarter net earnings of C$0.36 per share compared with C$0.04 per share last year.

On the economic front, a report released by Statistics Canada Thursday morning showed Canadian new home prices increased by 0.1 percent in December, in line with economists' expectations.

Eurozone industrial production remained flat in December after expanding for three consecutive months, data from Eurostat revealed Thursday. Industrial production remained unchanged from November, while it was forecast to grow 0.2 percent. The growth rate for November was revised down to 0.1 percent from 0.2 percent.

On the economic front, first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly climbed back above the 300,000 level in the week ended February 7, continuing to rebound from a recent pullback. A Labor Department report on Thursday showed initial jobless claims to have climbed to 304,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week's revised level of 279,000. Economists expected jobless claims to rise to 288,000 from the 278,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With sales at gas stations showing another substantial decrease, a Commerce Department report revealed U.S. retail sales to have dropped more than anticipated in January. Retail sales fell 0.8 percent in January after slumping by 0.9 percent in December. Economists expected sales to drop by 0.5 percent.

Eurozone industrial production remained flat in December after expanding for three consecutive months, data from Eurostat revealed Thursday. Industrial production remained unchanged from November, while it was forecast to grow 0.2 percent. The growth rate for November was revised down to 0.1 percent from 0.2 percent.

Germany's consumer prices fell for the first time since September 2009 in January and at a faster than initially estimated pace, final data from Destatis showed Thursday. The consumer price index dropped 0.4 percent in January from last year, while it was estimated to fall by 0.3 percent. This was the first drop since September 2009 and the biggest decline since July 2009, when prices slid 0.5 percent.

Business inventories in the U.S. increased in December due partly to a rebound in retail inventories, although business sales showed a notable decrease, a Commerce Department report indicated Thursday. Business inventories inched up 0.1 percent in December after edging up 0.2 percent in November. Economists anticipated another 0.2 percent increase.

Meanwhile, business sales slumped by 0.9 percent in December after sliding 0.4 percent in November. Wholesale inventories edged up 0.1 percent in December after climbing 0.8 percent in November, while manufacturers' inventories dipped by 0.3 percent after coming in unchanged in the previous month.