Resource fuels Toronto market surge

The Toronto stock market was higher Wednesday on rising resource and financial sector stocks that benefited from word the International Monetary Fund is looking to bolster its financial firepower to help defuse a global economic crisis.
The S&P TSX Composite Index eased into noon hour Wednesday up 52.64 points to 12,285.47.
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.14 cents to 98.62 cents U.S.
On the TSX, the financial sector rose while Royal Bank advanced 58 cents to $52.40 while Bank of Nova Scotia gained 71 cents to $52.52.
Major deal making helped send the TSX industrials sector up sharply. Shares in Finning International Inc. climbed $1.35, or 5.53%, to $25.75 after it said it will acquire the Caterpillar distribution and support business formerly operated by Bucyrus in South America, the U.K., and Western Canada. The deal is worth $465 million U.S. Vancouver-based Finning is the world’s biggest Caterpillar dealer.
Canadian National Railways advanced 97 cents to $78.89.
The energy sector ran up as the February crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange improved on Tuesday’s $2 jump (see below). Suncor Energy gained 69 cents to $33.91 and Cenovus Energy climbed 83 cents to $35.89.
The base metals sector gained as other commodity prices were weak with March copper ahead two cents at $3.75 U.S. a pound after the Chinese economic report in particular sent the metal jumping nine cents Tuesday. China is the world’s biggest copper consumer. Teck Resources was up 94 cents to $40.79 while HudBay Minerals was ahead 26 cents to $10.96.
The gold sector was higher as Goldcorp Inc. climbed 32 cents to $45.99.
The consumer discretionary sector provided lift with auto parts giant Magna International ahead 95 cents to $40.95.
The IMF said it aims to add $500 billion U.S. to its resources so it can give out new loans to help mitigate a worsening financial crisis. The Washington-based institution said its staff estimates that countries around the world will need about $1 trillion U.S. in loans over the coming years.
Most of the concerns centre on the 17-nation euro-zone, which has been embroiled in a debt crisis for around two years.
Thanks to some $200 billion U.S. that European countries have recently promised to the IMF, it is already more than one third on its way to reaching its fundraising goal.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange rallied 4.90 points to 1,542.62, while the Nasdaq Canada index sifted off 0.39 points to 403.03
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups gained by lunch hour. Industrials progressed 1.5%, global base metals gained 1.4%, and the metals and mining group was 0.9% stronger.
The lone laggard was in information technology, down 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, equities edged higher Wednesday, as investors welcomed the International Monetary Fund plan to boost its bailout fund to contain Europe’s debt crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 49.01 points midday to 12,531.10
The S&P 500 added 5.66 points to 1,299.33, while the Nasdaq Composite picked up 21.96 points to 2,750.04.
Investors also had the latest bank earnings report to mull over, with Goldman Sachs reporting fourth-quarter earnings that beat forecasts but revenue well below expectations. Goldman shares spiked 5% as CEO Lloyd Blankfein said in a statement that he was seeing “encouraging” signs of improvement in the markets and economy.
Goldman’s mixed results came a day after Citigroup missed earnings estimates, while results from Wells Fargo were in line with expectations. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley are scheduled to release their results on Thursday.
Yahoo shares rose after the Web portal announced late Tuesday that co-founder Jerry Yang has resigned from the board of directors and all other positions at the company.
Shares of Carnival rose modestly, after falling 14% the day before. The cruise line operator said it may suffer a more than $100 million U.S. hit to its profit from the grounding of the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy.
The euro firmed above $1.28 against the U.S. dollar on the news.
While the IMF’s beefed up lending capacity is good news, obstacles remain on the path toward a resolution to Europe’s debt crisis.
Greek government officials and the group representing private sector investors and banks are resuming talks Wednesday to try to nail down how big a writedown private investors are willing to take on the country’s bonds.
Economically speaking, producer prices fell 0.1% in December, the government reported Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected a rise of 0.1% during the month.
A report from the Federal Reserve showed that industrial production rose 0.4% in December, slightly below expectations, while capacity utilization rose to 78.1%, in line with economist expectations.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note dipped, pushing yields up to 1.86% from Tuesday’s 1.85%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery gained another 23 cents to $100.94 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery fell $7.00 to $1,648.60 U.S. an ounce.
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