Tweet

 

TSX ticks up despite weak Europe, China data, Rogers in focus

Toronto's main market edged up slightly on Wednesday afternoon after taking a dip into the red earlier, as equities were under pressure after weak economic data from both Europe and China.

As of 1:15pm ET, the S&P/TSX Composite was up 13.01 points, or 0.10%, to 12,636.37, while the more junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite fell 6.43 points, or 0.38%, to 1,672.20.

Early Wednesday, an index of business activity in the eurozone contracted in January, which followed data on China manufacturing that showed a slow pace of growth.

In addition, Fitch ratings agency downgraded Greece further into junk status, from "CCC" to "C" following the release of details on the struggling country's debt swap deal with private creditors, which will see 107 billion euros of Greece's debt written off.

Fitch said the downgrade indicates "that default is highly likely in the near term".

In the meantime, investors remain cautious about the latest bailout for Greece, which euro-zone finance ministers approved yesterday after weeks of negotiations. Analysts fear that though the funds will provide neccessary support to make a bond payment in March, the country will eventually need further funds.

Commodities were mixed, with the gold contract for April up 0.26% to $1,763.20 an ounce, and the silver contract down 0.56% to $34.3 an ounce.

April copper turned higher by 0.12% to $3.85 a pound, while crude oil for April delivery fell 40 cents to $105.85 a barrel.

In Toronto, materials, metals and mining and info-tech were the three biggest gainers, with telecom and energy also supported. Financials were down 0.3%.

Among energy, Suncor Energy (TSE:SU) was up 1.6%, while in the gold sector, Kinross (TSE:K) and Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) gained 0.7% and 1.22%, respectively. Copper heavyweight Teck Resources (TSE:TCK.B) rose around 2.4%.

In Canadian news Wednesday, Rogers Communications (TSE:RCI.B) (NYSE:RCI) said Wednesday that fourth quarter net profits rose eight percent as wireless revenue grew two percent on a record number of new smartphone customers and iPhone activations.

The Toronto-based company also boosted its annualized dividend by 11 percent to $1.58 per share for both its voting and non-voting shares, leading to a new quarterly dividend of 39.5 cents per share - payable on April 2. The results provided support for the telecom sector, which was up 0.4% in Toronto.

For the three months that ended December 31, Canada's largest wireless company said adjusted net income rose to $372 million, or 70 cents per share, up 17 percent from a year earlier.

Total operating revenue edged up one percent for the latest quarter to $3.18 billion.

In the meantime, rival telecom Telus Corp. (TSE:T) said Tuesday it would raise its dividend to 61 cents a share, up from 58 cents.

Sears Canada (TSE:SCC) said Wednesday it earned $38.7 million or 36 cents per share in its latest quarter, compared to $82.7 million or 77 cents per share a year earlier.

Total revenues for the quarter dropped 6.4% to $1.37 billion.

In other news, Talisman Energy  (TSE:TLM) said it has struck a partnership with Mitsubishi Corp. to develop natural gas properties in Papua New Guinea.

Calgary-based Talisman said Mitsubishi will pay about $280-million to form a joint venture on nine licences in the country. Talisman will hold about a 40% stake in the licences, while Mitsubishi will hold 20%. Talisman shares rose 0.65%.

Canada's largest thermal coal producer, Sherritt International Corp. (TSE:S), said it earned $28.1 million, or 10 cents per share in the latest quarter, down from $42.7 million, or 15 cents per share, a year earlier. The latest quarter included charges from an early debt redemption.

US/Europe

US markets fell lower Wednesday on concerns over Greece's latest bailout deal and global economic growth. The Dow was lately down 0.24%.

Meanwhile, traders digested another set of corporate earnings reports, with Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) reporting results that missed analyst expectations after the bell Tuesday.

For the quarter that ended February 3, the company saw a profit of $764 million, or 43 cents per share, compared with a profit of $927 million or 48 cents a share a year earlier.

Revenue was $16.03 billion, up from $15.69 billion. Adjusted income was 51 cents per share. Analysts were expecting a profit of 52 cents per share on revenue of $15.97 billion, according to FactSet Research.

For the current quarter, the company said it expects revenue to drop about 7 percent sequentially, which translates to a sales forecast of $14.91 billion. Analysts were expecting revenue of $15.09 billion, according to data from FactSet Research. Shares of Dell fell more than 6%.

Rival Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) is due to report after the closing bell today, and is expected to report earnings of 86 cents per share, down from $1.36 per share a year ago.

Chico's FAS (NYSE:CHS) saw its shares jump more than 16 percent Wednesday after announcing fourth quarter results that well beat estimates, with profits rising 25 percent year-over-year.

For the three months that ended January 28, the women's apparel and accessories retailer said net income was $25.1 million, or 15 cents per diluted share, compared to a year-prior profit of $20.7 million, or 12 cents per diluted share. Analysts, on average, were expecting the company to earn 11 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was also in focus Wednesday, as the iPad maker is involved in a courtroom battle with Chinese company Proview International, which claims Apple does not own rights to the iPad trademark in China.

Meanwhile, Netflix's (NASDAQ:NFLX) fell more than 5% after Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) said that it is working on a new subscription video-on-demand competitor, named "Streampix."

On the economic front in the US, existing-home sales rose 4.3% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. Economists were expecting a sales rate of 4.5 million.

European markets finished lower today with shares in Germany leading the region. The DAX was down 0.93% while France's CAC 40 was off 0.52% and Britain's FTSE 100 fell lower by 0.20%.