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TSX picks up steam on US data, Barrick, Sun Life, Finning in focus

Toronto's main market rose modestly by Thursday afternoon, as positive US economic data helped offset the continuing unsteady situation in Greece and downbeat news from Moody's.

As of just after 1:00pm ET, the S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 78.78 points, or 0.64%, to 12,440.81, while the more junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite rose 5.60 points, or 0.34%, to 1,639.18.

In the US, unemployment figures and housing numbers continued to show evidence of a recovering US economy.

Still, ratings agency Moody's (NYSE:MCO) warned late Wednesday it may cut the credit ratings of 17 global and 114 European financial institutions, including Canada's Royal Bank (TSE:RY) in another sign the impact of the euro zone government debt crisis is spreading throughout the global financial system.

It said among 17 banks and securities firms with global capital markets operations, it might cut the long-term credit rating of UBS (NUSE:UBS), Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by as much as three notches following the review.

Among the banks that might be downgraded by two notches are Barclays (NYSE:BCS), BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB), HSBC Holdings (NYSE:HBC), and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS).

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Nomura (NYSE:NMR) were included in those that might be downgraded by one notch.

The warning shot from Moody's follows rounds of downgrades in European sovereign ratings as the euro zone's struggle to keep its weakest link, Greece, afloat has been driving up borrowing costs and straining finances of other nations.

Last Monday, Moody's cut the ratings of six European nations including Italy, Spain and Portugal and warned it could strip France, Britain and Austria of their top-level AAA grade.

There are also continuing worries as to when debt-stricken Greece will actually receive bailout funds, which are necessary to avoid a messy default. Yesterday, a meeting of eurozone finance ministers to consider the latest bailout package was canceled.

Crude oil for March delivery gained 51 cents to $102.31 a barrel, while gold for April declined 0.25% to $1,723.70 an ounce.

Silver futures dropped 0.32% to $33.3 an ounce, while the base metal copper contract shed 0.28% to $3.8 a pound.

In Toronto, materials, energy, and info tech were the three biggest gainers, with metals and mining and financials also posting solid gains. Healthcare, industrials and utlities were in the red Thursday.

In the gold sector, Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX)(NYSE:ABX) reported relatively flat earnings on Thursday, despite a strong rise in gold and copper production and in average realized prices for the metals.

For the three months ended December 31, the gold and copper producer posted net income of $959 million, or $0.96 per share, down from $961 million, or $0.96 per share, a year ago.

Adjusted for certain one-time items, earnings rose 15 percent to $1.17 billion, or $1.17 per share. Shares were down 0.2% on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Kinross Gold (TSE:K) advanced 6.6% and Goldcorp (TSE:G) rose 3.7%.

Agnico-Eagle Mines (TSE:AEM) also supported the materials sector, with shares rising more than 5.3%, despite reporting a quarterly loss of $601.4 million, or a loss of $3.53 per share.

Lundin Mining (TSE:LUN) was up around 2%, while copper heavyweight Teck Resources (TSE:TCK.B) gained 1%.

In energy, Nexen (TSE:NXY) shares rose over 3% even though its profit dropped almost 75% in the latest quarter on charges for future oilsands projects and low natural gas prices.

Energy was ahead around 1% as Suncor (TSE:SU) edged up 0.15% and Talisman Energy (TSE:TLM) advanced 0.5%.

Heavy truck and equipment dealer Finning International (TSE:FTT), the world's biggest dealer in Caterpillar products, reported that fourth-quarter profit rose 27% to $71 million, on quarterly record revenues.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) sank to a loss during its fourth quarter, as it recorded a massive one-time charge related to certain accounting measures.

For the three months that ended December 31, Canada's third largest life insurer posted a net loss of $525 million, or $0.90 loss per share, compared to earnings of $504 million, or $0.84 per share, a year ago.

During the quarter, Sun Life took a $635 million charge related to the valuation of its variable annuity and segregated fund insurance contract liabilities. Adjusted for this charge, as well as for goodwill impairment and restructuring charges, Sun Life posted a net loss of $221 million, or $0.38 per share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a 59-cent loss per share. Shares rose 0.3%.

Financials gained around 0.3% in Toronto, despite the Moody's news, as Royal Bank (TSE:RY) and Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) were ahead by 0.06% and 1.12%, respectively.

In economic news, Statistics Canada said manufacturing sales improved 0.6% in December to $49.9 billion. The agency also said that foreign investment in securities fell by half in December from the prior month to $7.4 billion.

US/Europe

US equities also experienced a bullish streak on upbeat domestic data, with investors largely ignoring the eurozone crisis and developments from Moody's. The Dow was lately up 0.92%.

On the labour front, initial unemployment claims for the week that ended February 11 fell to 348,000 -- down 13,000 from the prior week. Economists were expecting 365,000 claims.

Housing starts for January rose 1.5% to 699,000, according to the Commerce Department. Building permits rose 0.7% to 676,000 in January. Both numbers were higher than expected.

US financials stocks, including Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and Citigroup (NYSE:C) reversed earlier losses Thursday to post gains between 1.5% and 3.6%.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) posted 2011 earnings of $9.19 billion last year, the largest profit in the auto-maker's history, while its European business again lost money.

GM’s full-year profit in 2010 of $6.17 billion had been the automaker’s largest annual profit since it earned $6.7 billion in 1997, excluding profit in 2009 to account for its post-bankruptcy recapitalization.

For 2011, revenue increased to $150.3 billion from $135.6 billion.

For the fourth quarter, however, net income slid 48 percent to $725 million, the lowest in two years. GM had earned more than $2 billion in each of the three previous quarters.

The J.M. Smucker Co.’s (NYSE:SJM) share price slid Thursday after the company said third-quarter profits fell 11 percent amid declining overall sales volumes.

Molson Coors Brewing Co. (NYSE:TAP) said Thursday fourth-quarter sales jumped 12.2 percent, spurred by higher pricing, overhead cost reductions and one extra shopping week. For the quarter that ended December 31, the company said that net income from continuing operations surged to $172.4 million, or 95 cents per share, compared to a year-earlier profit of $111.3 million, or 59 cents per share.

VF Corp (NYSE:VFC) said Thursday its fourth quarter sales rose to record levels while its profit more than quadrupled, bolstered by its September 2011 acquisition of The Timberland Company brand.

Media company CBS (NYSE:CBS) late Wednesday posted fourth-quarter sales that missed analysts’ estimates as advertising declined.

CBS, owner of the most-watched US television network, said revenue for the period that ended December 31 slid three percent to $3.78 billion, missing the $3.9 billion average of 21 analyst estimates.

Net income climbed 31 percent to $370 million, or 55 cents per share, on higher fees from pay-TV systems and affiliate stations.

European markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The CAC 40 gained 0.09%, while Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.12% and Germany's DAX was off 0.09%.