TSX Ends Higher On Resource Stocks -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks ended higher for a sixth straight session on Wednesday, led by strong buying in gold and mining stocks, even as investors tracked corporate earnings for some direction.

All major sectors of the main index ended in positive territory.

Energy stocks also moved higher after a sluggish start, while financial stocks pulled back a bit on news that U.S. and U.K. regulators have imposed hefty fines on some leading banks including HSBC (HSBC), CitiGroup (C), JP Morgan Chase (JPM) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for alleged currency market manipulation.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 25.05 points or 0.16 percent at 14,785.32, after rising to 14,832.70 from an early low of 14,696.92.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index closed Wednesday at 14,856.20, up 95.93 points or 0.65 percent. The index scaled a intraday high of 14,856.20 and a low of 14,696.92.

On Tuesday, the index closed up 50.47 points or 0.34 percent at 14,760.27.

Crude prices ended lower on a strong dollar, ahead of the weekly official crude inventory report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, with investors focus on Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' November end meeting which is expected to maintain the current production levels despite the sharp fall in prices.

The American Petroleum Institute will release its crude inventory data for the week ended November 7, later today, while the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly oil status report will be out tomorrow. Reports suggests U.S. crude inventories may have risen to a four-month high last week.

The Energy Index gained 1.00 percent, although U.S. crude oil futures for December delivery dived $0.76 or 1.0 percent to close at $77.18 a barrel on the Nymex Wednesday.

Among energy stocks, Suncor Energy Inc. (SU.TO) gained 1.43 percent, Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM.TO) shed 1.52 percent, Canadian Oil Sands Limited (COS.TO) added 0.75 percent, Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) gained 0.67 percent, and Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. (PRE.TO) jumped 4.48 percent.

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ.TO) gained 1.92 percent, while Enbridge, Inc. (ENB.TO) dropped 0.59 percent.

Meanwhile, Encana Corp. (ECA.TO) dropped 1.67 percent after reporting third quarter net earnings of $2.8 billion, up from last year's $188 million.

Gold futures ended lower on Wednesday, amid growing speculation about U.S. interest rate hikes happening sooner than expected, even as the dollar trended higher against a basket of major currencies.

The Global Gold Index slipped 0.16 percent, with gold for December delivery dropping $3.90 or 0.3 percent to settle at $1,159.10 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday.

In the gold space, Kinross Gold Corp. (K.TO) added 1.82 percent, Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) gained 0.36 percent, Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO) moved up 0.36 percent, Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI.TO) dropped 2.51 percent, and Eldorado Gold Corp. (ELD.TO) slipped 0.46 percent. Detour Gold Corporation (DGC.TO) gained 3.09 percent.

IAMGOLD Corp.(IMG.TO) dropped 0.46 percent, Franco-Nevada Corp. (FNV.TO) added 0.41 percent, and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) dipped 1.43 percent.

Silver Wheaton Corp. (SLW.TO) gained 1.61 percent, after its third-quarter net earnings plunged to $4.5 million or $0.01 per share, from $77.06 million or $0.22 per share, last year.

The Capped Materials Index added 0.80 percent with Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (POT.TO) up 0.95 percent.

The Healthcare Index gained 1.17 percent, with Catamaran Corp. (CCT.TO) up 0.57 percent, Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRX.TO) up 1.13 percent, and Extendicare Inc. (EXE.TO) adding 1.99 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index moved up 0.58 percent, as Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) gained 0.29 percent, Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) added 0.97 percent, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) added 0.24 percent, and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) added 0.63 percent. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) gained 0.06 percent, while Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) added 0.51 percent.

The Diversified Metals & Mining Index gained 1.85 percent, as Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN.TO) dropped 0.36 percent, First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.TO) gained 3.04 percent, and Teck Resources Limited (TCK.B.TO) inched up 0.16 percent. Sherritt International Corp. (S.TO) jumped 5.14 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index gained 0.22 percent, with Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) up 0.99 percent and Air Canada (AC) down 1.08 percent.

The Information Technology Index added 0.04 percent with smartphone maker BlackBerry Limited (BB.TO) gaining 2.24 percent, Constellation Software Inc. (CSU.TO) slipped 0.14 percent, while Avigilon Corp. (AVO.TO) dropped 2.76 percent.

Open Text Corporation (OTC.TO) dropped 1.01 percent, while DH Corp. (DH.TO) shed 2.96 percent.

The Telecom Index gained 0.76 percent with Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI.B.TO) up 0.82 percent, TELUS Corp. (T.TO) up 0.82 percent, and BCE Inc. (BCE.TO) up 0.73 percent.

The Consumer Discretionary Index gathered 0.49 percent, with Tim Hortons Inc. (THI.TO) down 0.18 percent.

The Consumer Staples Index moved up 1.43 percent, as Saputo Inc. (SAP.TO) gained 1.13 percent, and Metro Inc. (MRU.TO) added 0.68 percent.

Loblaw Companies Ltd. (L.TO) gained 3.41 percent after reporting third-quarter net earnings of C$142 million or C$0.32 per share, down from C$150 million or C$0.53 per share a year ago.

CAE Inc. (CAE.TO) added 0.35 percent after reporting a second-quarter profit of C$42.9 million, up from C$38.3 million reported in the same period last year. Earnings per share were C$0.16, compared to C$0.15 last year.

In economic news, wholesale inventories in the U.S. rose slightly more than anticipated in September, a report from the Commerce Department showed Wednesday. Wholesale inventories edged up 0.3 percent in September following a downwardly revised 0.6 percent increase in August. Economists expected wholesale inventories to inch up by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.7 percent growth originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, preliminary figures from Eurostat showed eurozone industrial production to have surged up 0.6 percent year-on-year in September, following a revised 0.5 percent slump in August.

Germany's economy stabilized in the third quarter, after a contraction in the three months to June, the Economy Ministry said in its monthly report on Wednesday, citing available indicators. The Federal Statistical Office is set to release the preliminary GDP figures for the third quarter on Friday. Economists have forecast 0.1 percent growth.

Elsewhere in Europe, the Bank of England sees inflation below 1 percent in coming six months and also lowered its economic growth projections, citing stagnation in Europe, signaling that the interest rate is unlikely to be raised until late next year. In its quarterly Inflation Report on Wednesday, the BoE said inflation is set to fall temporarily below 1 percent over the next six months, but is forecast to move close to the 2 percent target at the end of 2017.

The U.K. economy is forecast to grow 3.5 percent in 2014, unchanged from the previous estimate. The outlook for next year was lowered to 2.9 percent from 3.1 percent and that for 2016 to 2.6 percent from 2.8 percent.