Canadian Stocks Rise After U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Decline
Most Canadian stocks rose after the U.S. reported a larger-than-forecast drop in initial jobless claims and commodity prices gained.
Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest base-metals and coal producer, advanced 0.5 percent as the Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Commodity Price Index increased for the first time in seven days. Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest bank, fell 3.1 percent after reporting third-quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates.
The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 2.36 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 11,650.48 at 2:26 p.m. in Toronto. Of the 229 companies in the gauge 143 rose and 80 fell after the U.S. Labor Department said first-time unemployment claims totaled 473,000 last week, down from a revised 504,000 the previous week. None of the 48 economists in a Bloomberg Survey forecast claims would drop so much.
“When you look on the calendar and see macroeconomic news, the market’s pretty skittish about that,” said Keith McLean, co-manager of GMP Investment Management LP’s C$300 million ($285 million) Diversified Alpha Fund. “The market saw they weren’t as bad as feared.”
The S&P/TSX slipped 0.6 percent this month through yesterday even with a 44 percent surge in Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the target of a takeover bid from BHP Billiton Ltd. Canadian stocks dropped as data on U.S. unemployment, housing and manufacturing indicated a slowdown in the recovery in Canada’s largest trading partner.
Unemployment Report
Oil futures rallied as the unemployment report eased concern the U.S. recovery is slipping. Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s largest oil and gas producer, rose 0.3 percent to C$32.08. Crescent Point Energy Corp., which produces oil and gas in western Canada, advanced 1.8 percent to C$36.65 after receiving a “buy” rating in new coverage from UBS AG analyst Matt Donohue.
Gold producers climbed as the U.S. dollar retreated for the first time in six days against a basket of major currencies.
Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer of the metal, increased 1.8 percent to C$48.82. Kinrosss Gold Corp., Canada’s third-biggest gold-mining company, climbed 2.1 percent to C$16.97. Silver reseller Silver Wheaton Corp. rose 2.9 percent from a record close to C$23.45 as that metal gained.
Teck rallied 0.5 percent to C$34.90 after gaining as much as 3.1 percent as copper futures climbed the most in five weeks.
Royal Bank, Canada’s largest company by market value, slumped 3.1 percent to $49.11 after missing the average of 13 profit estimates by 15 percent, excluding certain items. Earlier today, the shares touched a 13-month intraday low of C$48.85.
National Bank of Canada, the country’s sixth-biggest bank, rose 4 percent to C$57.90. Third-quarter profit for the Montreal-based lender topped the average of 14 analyst forecasts by 3.4 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Matt Walcoff in Toronto at mwalcoff1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael P. Regan in New York at mregan12@bloomberg.net.
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