Roger Biduk - Commodities Bolster Bay Street

Roger Biduk writes:

Energy and mining stocks led the way to a solid triple-digit rise on the Toronto stock market on Wednesday as financial stocks lost ground for a second day.

Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index closed up 236.44 points at 8,634.
The TSX Venture Exchange was up 19.52 points to 705.54 while the Canadian dollar moved ahead 0.31 of a cent to 79.39 cents US as commodity prices ticked higher.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says there will be no blank cheque for automakers and he wants to see the U.S. aid package before deciding on the Detroit Three's plea for billions of dollars in help from Ottawa.

The TSX base metals sector ran ahead 8.25 per cent amid news from global miner Rio Tinto that it is cutting 14,000 jobs worldwide and reducing capital spending.
The news was enthusiastically received by investors who sent Rio Tinto's shares up $4.05 or 12. per cent to US$37.40. It's not yet known how Rio Tinto's cutback will affect Canadian operations. The London-based global miner is afflicted by weak metal prices and weighed down by debt from last year's US$38-billion acquisition of Montreal-based Alcan.
Teck Cominco Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B) advanced 56 cents to $4.83 as copper rose 5.2 cents to US$1.4955 pound while Equinox Minerals (TSX:EQN) charged ahead 20 cents to $1.28.

The TSX energy sector moved up 5.45 per cent amid rising oil prices. The January crude contract in New York gained $1.45 to US$43.52 a barrel ahead of an expected production-quota cut next week by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
EnCana Corp. (TSX:ECA) advanced $3.61 to $59.64 while Suncor Energy (TSX:SU) improved $2.73 to $26.70.
Nexen Inc. (TSX:NXY) shares advanced 85 cents to $21.73 as it announced plans to spend 15 per cent less in 2009 than it did this year as it ramps down investment in the Long Lake oilsands venture and some conventional oil properties.

The gold sector rose 10 per cent as bullion gained $34.60 to US$808.80 an ounce. Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) added $3.56 to $34.50 while Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) headed $3.40 higher to $38.50.

Bank stocks continued to be a drag with the sector down almost two per cent a day after the Bank of Canada slashed its main interest rate by 75 basis points. Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) declined $1.10 to $31.24 while National Bank (TSX:NA) gave back $1.96 to $32.91.
Investors were also braced for more moves by the banks to raise money to bolster their capital requirements and protect dividend payments.

Teck stocks were under pressure with Nortel Networks shares (TSX:NT) falling 15 cents or 23.45 per cent to 49 cents, after hitting a new 52-week low of 46 cents.
The Wall Street Journal reported the telecom equipment company hired legal counsel to explore bankruptcy court protection from creditors. Nortel responded that it is "a viable partner for the long term" and noted it has no debt maturity until 2011.

George Weston Ltd. (TSX:WN) shares climbed $1.48 to $62.40 after it announced the sale of its fresh baked-goods business in the United States to Grupo Bimbo of Mexico for US$2.5 billion.
MDS said its revenue and operating profit are below previous guidance, and it is taking a US$260-million writeoff of the MAPLE medical-isotope reactor, along with a goodwill writedown of as much as $370 million at its MDS Pharma Services division. Its shares closed up three cents at $8 after hitting a new 52-week low of $6.82.

www.rogerbiduk.ca
www.rogerbiduk.wordpress.com