Mar. 12, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Canadian stocks experienced a positive opening Friday on firm commodity prices.
The S&P/TSX composite index vaulted out of the starting gate up 67.87 points to 12,047.57.
Also, encouraging news in the form of domestic jobs data, a spurt in euro zone industrial production in February and better-than-expected retail sales data form the U.S. will likely to help lift sentiment.
The price of crude oil was up, after IEA raised its global oil demand outlook
The price of bullion bounced back Friday morning after drifting to $1.100-mark intra-day Thursday.
In corporate news, fertilizer company Potash Corp. upped its first-quarter earnings outlook to be in the range of $1.30 to $1.50 per share, compared to prior estimate of $0.70 to $1.00 per share. Analysts expect the company to report $0.94 per share for the first quarter.
Agriculture products and services provider Agrium Inc. said Thursday it will no longer pursue an acquisition of CF Industries Holdings Inc. and will allow its offer to expire on March 22.
Energy stocks may be in play after Alberta said Thursday that it will cut royalty rates for oil and gas industry in a bid to attract investment. Canadian Oil Sands owns the largest stake in Syncrude oil sands project in Alberta
Precious metal explorer Goldcorp reported lower fourth quarter net earnings of $0.09 per share compared to $1.31 per share in the prior year quarter. However, on an adjusted basis, net earnings were $0.25 per share compared to $0.12 in the prior year period.
Energy company Provident Energy Trust reported narrower fourth quarter net loss of $0.08 per unit, compared to a loss of $0.17 per unit in the same period last year.
Pipeline operator TransCanada Corp. said it received approval from National Energy Board to construct and operate a 3,200-kilometre, 36-inch crude oil pipeline in the Keystone Gulf Coast Expansion Project.
Building construction services provider Churchill Corp reported lower fourth-quarter net earnings of $0.46 per basic share, compared to $0.63 per basic share last year.
Xinergy Ltd. said it will acquire all the outstanding membership interests in Raven Crest Mining LLC from JMP Coal Holdings LLC for $40 million.
Wood products maker Stella-Jones reported a dip in its fourth-quarter net earnings at $0.24 per share versus $0.50 per share last year. It also declared a semi-annual dividend of $0.18 per share.
In brokerage updates, Morgan Stanley upped its price target on Scotiabank to $59 from $58. UBS hiked its price target on Linamar Corp price target to $21 from $19.
In economic news, Statistics Canada said the economy created 20,900 jobs in February, with large gains in full-time work partly offset by losses in part time. The unemployment rate edged down 0.1% to 8.2% in February.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.71 cents at 98.33 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, nine were ahead in the early going. Materials leaped 1.7%, followed by metals and mining stocks, ahead 1.1%, while financials were up 0.5%.
The five laggards were weighed by information technology issues, off 0.6%, while health-care stocks suffered 0.5% and telecoms slid 0.1%.
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 4.93 points to 1,565.87, while the Nasdaq Canada index ducked 4.36 points to 806.22.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks were poised to extend gains Friday after a government report showed surprising strength in retail sales for February.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained a respectable 21.24 points in the first half-hour of trading to 10,633.08. The S&P 500 index progressed 2.15 points to 1,152.39, and the Nasdaq composite moved forward by 1.51 points to 2,369.97.
Stocks have managed narrow gains this week. As of Thursday's close, the Dow has risen in eight of the last 10 sessions and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have risen in nine of the last 10 sessions.
On Thursday, stocks seesawed through most of the session but closed with slim gains.
On the economic ledger, the Commerce Department's monthly report on retail sales showed a 0.3% increase. That surprised economist who expected sales to fall 0.2% in February, according to Briefing.com, following a 0.5% dip in January.
The University of Michigan is set to release its preliminary consumer sentiment index for March.
Economists forecast sentiment will rise to a reading of 74, from 73.6 in the previous month.
The Census Bureau's report on January business inventories is also due after the start of trading, and economists are looking for a rise of 0.1% after inventories slid 0.2% in December.
A report by a U.S. bankruptcy court-appointed examiner blamed the collapse of Lehman on the bank's executives and its auditor.
The conduct of Lehman executives "ranged from serious but non-culpable errors of business judgment to actionable balance sheet manipulation," examiner Anton Valukas said in the report.
Treasury prices dipped, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.75% from 3.71% late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil added 51 cents to $82.62 U.S.
Gold prices were flat at $1,109 U.S.
