Originally Published on November 28, 2012, for Xinhua News Agency
TORONTO, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) – The Canadian stock market shook off its recent losing streak on Wednesday, as the hope of U.S. lawmakers reaching a deal to avert the “fiscal cliff” pushed the stocks into positive territory.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 28.70 points, or 0.24 percent, to 12,140.33, while the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index subtracted 0.8 points, or 0.07 percent, to 1,205.37.
Markets reacted positively to earlier comments by U.S. House Speaker John Boehner on reaching a possible compromise with President Barack Obama by the end of the month to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff”.
President Obama said he believes members of both parties can reach a framework on a debt-cutting deal before Christmas.
In energy, Suncor Energy lost 0.36 percent to 32.96 Canadian dollars per share. Imperial Oil gained 1.11 percent to 42.98 Canadian dollars per share after announcing its 1.55 billion Canadian dollars investment for a 50 percent stake in oil company Celtic Exploration Ltd.
In mining, Inmet Mining Corp. rose 17.42 percent to 62 Canadian dollars a share after rejecting a 4.9 billion Canadian dollars hostile takeover bid by First Quantum Minerals. First Quantum Minerals shares dropped 1.61 percent to 20.8 Canadian dollars per share. Lundin Mining surged 4.97 percent to 5.28 Canadian dollars a share.
The gold sector climbed with Barrick Gold Corp. gaining 0.49 percent to 34.57 Canadian dollars per share. The company’s main competitor, Goldcorp Inc. added 0.92 percent to 39.31 Canadian dollars a share. Gold miners, Centerra Gold, rose 2.87 percent to 9.32 Canadian dollars a share, while Yamana Gold was up 1.04 percent to 19.44 Canadian dollars per share.
Commodities lowered, with gold decreased to 1,722.2 U.S. dollars an ounce. Crude oil fell to 86.68 U.S. dollars a barrel, while copper slid to 3.546 U.S. dollars a pound.
In corporate developments, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. recovered some of its losses on Wednesday, halting its current downward trend caused by the tech giant’s recent contract dispute with Nokia Corp. A Swedish arbitrator ruled RIM in breach of an agreement between the two companies that stipulates the firm must negotiate royalties before manufacturing and selling certain patented wireless technology. RIM shares were up 2.8 percent to 11 Canadian dollars apiece.
Elsewhere, IT giant CGI Group Inc. reported a net loss of profit just below 170 million Canadian dollars in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with a profit of 69.6 million Canadian dollars or in the year-earlier period. The company’s overall revenue increased to 1.61 billion Canadian dollars from just over 1 billion Canadian dollars last year. On Wednesday, CGI shares dropped 3.87 percent to 23.12 Canadian dollars per share.
Pierre Duhaime, former CEO of Canada’s largest engineering firm, SNC-Lavalin, was arrested on Wednesday on three counts of fraud-related charges. An internal audit earlier this year revealed the company lost 56 million Canadian dollars paid to non-existent construction projects Duhaime personally signed off on. Duhaime resigned in March, after receiving a “golden handshake” of 5 million Canadian dollars. SNC-Lavalin’s shares tumbled 2.25 percent to 40 Canadian dollars apiece.
In currency, the Canadian dollar strengthened to 1.0082 U.S. dollar at closing, 5 p.m. local time (2200 GMT), compared with 1.0053 U.S. dollar on Tuesday.