Canadian Stocks Are Climbing As Oil Rebounds -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is trading in the green Thursday morning, as it attempts to bounce back from yesterday's decline. Nearly every sector is rising, with the exception of the gold index.

Oil prices are rising this morning, following the sharp sell-off in the previous session. The price of a barrel of oil fell by nearly 9 percent yesterday, on renewed concerns of oversupply. Supply glut concerns resurfaced after an official weekly oil report from the Energy Information Administration showed crude stockpiles in the U.S. to have surged more than expected last week.

Markets in the United States are also positive this morning, despite several weaker than expected economic reports. U.S. labor productivity unexpectedly declined, while the trade deficit widened more than anticipated. The rebound in weekly jobless claims was also weaker than expected. Investors will be watching for the release of the U.S. jobs report for January Friday morning. Markets in Europe are falling Thursday, due to renewed concerns over Greece. the European Central Bank said it would no longer accept Greek bonds as collateral for loans to its commercial banks. The Greek news overshadowed a much stronger than expected German factory orders report.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 147.34 points or 0.98 percent at 15,142.99.

On Wednesday, the index closed down 67.23 points or 0.45 percent, at 14,995.65. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,056.35 and a low of 14,939.17.

The Energy Index is providing the biggest boost to the market this morning, increasing by 3.27 percent. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is higher by 2.52 percent and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is increasing by 1.72 percent. Encana (ECA.TO) is climbing by 0.63 percent and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) advancing by 1.55 percent.

Legacy Oil + Gas (LEG.TO) is surging by 14.05 percent and Canadian Oil Sands (COS.TO) is up 0.66 percent. Pacific Rubiales Energy (PRE.TO) is soaring by 14.18 percent and Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) is adding 0.97 percent. CrescentPoint Energy (CPG.TO) is higher by 0.82 percent and Bonterra Energy (BNE.TO) is rising by 2.94 percent.

Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is gaining 2.40 percent. The company reported fourth quarter operating earnings of C$0.27 per share compared to C$0.66 per share in the prior year. Analysts expected EPS of C$0.35.

MEG Energy (MEG.TO) is up 2.85 percent. The company reported a full year 2014 net loss of C$106 million, compared to the loss of C$166 million a year ago.

The Diversified Metal and Mining Index is also rising by 1.68 percent. Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) is gaining 2.23 percent and First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is up 1.65 percent. Teck Resources (TCK-B.TO) is climbing by 2.11 percent and Finning International (FTT.TO) is increasing by 1.79 percent. HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO) is advancing by 0.50 percent and Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ.TO) is higher by 1.30 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index is also adding 1.07 percent. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is higher by 0.92 percent and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is gaining 1.18 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is up 1.27 percent and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is advancing by 1.05 percent. Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is rising by 0.85 percent and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is climbing by 1.04 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index is advancing by 1.12 percent. Bombardier (BBD-A.TO) is up 1.30 percent and Air Canada (AC.TO) is higher by 3.55 percent. Canadian Tire (CTC-A.TO) is gaining 1.44 percent. Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is climbing by 1.23 percent and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is adding 1.21 percent.

The Capped Information Technology Index is up 0.67 percent. BlackBerry (BB.TO) is higher by 0.97 percent and Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) is gaining 0.68 percent. Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) is declining by 4.54 percent.

BCE is increasing by 1.12 percent. The company reported fourth quarter adjusted EPS of $0.72, which surpassed analysts' expectations of $0.70. Full year 2015 adjusted earnings per share is expected to be in the range of $3.28 to $3.38. Analysts expect the company to report 2015 earnings per share of $3.28.

The Capped Materials Index is higher by only 0.14 percent. Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is up 0.49 percent and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is rising 0.16 percent.

Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) down 0.48 percent and Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is losing 1.27 percent. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT.TO) is also down 0.13 percent. The Gold Index is down 0.28 percent, as the price of gold heads lower. Royal Gold (RGL.TO) is decreasing by 0.80 percent and Goldcorp (G.TO) is losing 0.23 percent.

Kinross Gold (K.TO) is up 0.95 percent and Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is higher by 1.27 percent. Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is higher by 0.79 percent.

Manitoba Telecom Services (MBT.TO) is falling by 3.04 percent. The company's fourth quarter earnings and revenues fell short of expectations.

On the economic front, the Canadian trade deficit widened to C$649 million in December, from a revised C$335 million in November, according to a report from Statistics Canada Thursday morning. Economists had expected a trade deficit of C$1.10 billion. This was the third consecutive month that Canada logged a trade deficit.

German factory orders rebounded at the fastest pace in five months underpinned by both domestic and foreign demand in December. Factory orders grew a seasonally and working-day adjusted 4.2 percent month-on-month in December, reversing a revised 2.4 percent fall in November, figures from Destatis showed Thursday.

The latest order growth was the strongest since July, when demand rose 4.8 percent. The growth also exceeded a 1.5 percent rise expected by economists.

Germany's construction sector contracted in January, though at a fractional rate , results of a survey from Markit Economics showed Thursday. The purchasing managers' index for the construction sector, or PMI, fell to 49.5 in January from 50.5 in the previous month, indicating marginal contraction.

U.K house prices increased for the third straight month in January, survey data from Lloyds Banking Group's Halifax division showed Thursday. House prices climbed 2.0 percent month-on-month in January, faster than the 1.1 percent rise in the previous month. Economists had expected house prices to remain flat during the month.

After reporting a notable decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that initial jobless claims rebounded by less than anticipated in the week ended January 31st.

The report said initial jobless claims rose to 278,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's revised level of 267,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to climb to 290,000 from the 265,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Labor productivity in the U.S. unexpectedly showed a notable decrease in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The report said productivity tumbled by 1.8 percent in the fourth quarter following an upwardly revised 3.7 percent jump in the third quarter.

Economists had expected productivity to edge up by 0.2 percent compared to the 2.3 percent increase that had been reported for the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said unit labor costs surged up by 2.7 percent in the fourth quarter after falling by a revised 2.3 percent in the third quarter. Labor costs had been expected to climb by 1.2 percent compared to the 1.0 percent drop that had been reported for the previous quarter.

With imports jumping and exports falling, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing that the U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly widened in the month of December. The Commerce Department said the trade deficit widened to $46.6 billion in December from a revised $39.8 billion in November, reflecting the widest deficit since November of 2012.

The wider trade deficit came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the deficit to narrow to $37.9 billion from the $39.0 billion originally reported for the previous month.

In commodities, crude oil futures for March delivery are up $2.64 or 5.54 percent at $51.09 a barrel.

Natural gas for March is down $0.03 or 1.13 percent at $2.632 per million btu.

Gold futures for April are down $2.50 or 0.20 percent at $1,262.00 an ounce.

Silver for March is down $0.26 or 1.49 percent at $17.135 an ounce.