Nov. 9, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) --
Toronto stocks remain sharply higher on Monday morning, led by strength in the resource sectors.
The gains follow the direction seen by markets in the U.S. and Europe.
The S&P/TSX composite index continued to ride high by noon, charging upwards by 223.89 points, or 2%, to 11.474.31.
Gold and materials have added strength as the precious metal extended a record above $1,100 U.S. an ounce. Eldorado has gained 6.8%, Goldcorp is up 4.7% and New Gold has rallied 3.4%.
Mining stocks are up, as Inmet has gained 5.6%, HudBay is up 4.1% and First Quantum has gained 3.9%.
Quadra Mining is up 0.7% after the company reported third quarter earnings of $14.7 million U.S. or $0.15 U.S. per share, compared to $20.77 million U.S. or $0.31 U.S. per share last year.
Energy stocks are up as Suncor has rallied 4.2%, Canadian Natural Resources is up 3% and Encana has gained 2.8%.
Ensign has gained 3.25% after the company reported its third-quarter net income plummeted to $16.90 million or $0.11 per share from $72.07 million or $0.47 per share in the previous year.
In the second quarter, the company's net income was $13.21 million or $0.09 per share.
In other corporate news, Cardiome Pharma is up 0.5% after the company said its third-quarter net loss narrowed to $400,000 or $0.01 per share from $11.8 million or $0.18 per share in the prior-year period.
Angiotech Pharmaceuticals has dropped 2.7% after the company reported third quarter net loss of $7.8 million U.S. or $0.09 U.S. per share, compared to net loss of $622.38 million U.S. or $7.31 U.S. per share last year.
CGI Group has slipped 1.1% after the company reported that its fourth-quarter net earnings from continuing operations were $82.55 million or $0.27 per share, compared to $75.26 million or $0.24 per share in the same quarter last year.
AutoCanada Income Fund has surged 14.4% after the company reported its third quarter net earnings of $5.10 million or $0.256 per share, compared to restated net loss of $38.32 million or $1.892 per share in the same period last year.
The Canadian dollar strengthened 1.62 cents to 94.63 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but one of the 14 TSX subgroups had moved higher by noon. Gold stocks and their brethren in the metals and mining sector leaped 3.4% each, followed by global base metals, which advanced 3.2%.
Only a 0.7% stumble by health-care stocks kept things from being unanimous.
The TSX Venture Exchange moved up 17.97 points to 1,358.59, while the Nasdaq Canada index was 21.76 points in the black to 661.01.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks, fresh off a solid week, continued to rise Monday -- with the Dow industrials hitting a 52-week high -- on strength in commodity prices after the Group of 20 said it would keep economic stimulus in place.
The Dow Jones Industrials were higher 148.96 points by noon to 10,172.38. The S&P 500 index strengthened 16.47 points to 1,085.77, while the Nasdaq composite index was up 30.37 points to 2,142.81.
Finance ministers of the G-20 met over the weekend and pledged to continue government aid. The dollar fell sharply against the euro and British pound, while commodities and commodity-linked stocks rose.
Stocks had bounced back last week, with the Dow reclaiming the 10,000 mark. But trading could be choppy this week with little economic news on tap.
On Monday, with no significant economic indicators being reported, investors were also are focused on corporate events, particularly talk about deals -- possible and completed.
Kraft launched a $16.3-billion-U.S. hostile takeover bid Monday for British candymaker Cadbury after the deadline for the initial bid passed without a deal. Cadbury, which rejected Kraft's initial $16.7-billion-U.S. offer in early September, again turned down the U.S. food company.
Comcast and GE have reportedly agreed on the worth of NBC Universal. The agreement is a major hurdle cleared for Comcast as it aims to gain control of NBC Universal.
Northrop Grumman has sold its consulting arm to two private equity firms. The $1.65-billion-U.S. deal was announced Sunday.
Treasury prices nipped higher, lowering the yields for the benchmark 10-year note to 3.48% from Friday's 3.50%. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil jumped $2.36 to $79.79 U.S.
Gold prices propelled themselves higher by $12 to $1,108 U.S. an ounce.
