Canadian Stocks Are Rising Along With Crude Prices -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is gaining ground in early trade Thursday, adding to yesterday's modest increase. Rising crude oil prices are providing a boost to the market this morning, due to speculation that OPEC may be willing to curb supply. Russian officials have hinted at possible coordination with Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries on output cuts to arrest the decline in prices.

Energy stocks are among the best performers this morning and financial stocks are extending their gains from the previous session. However, weakness in gold and healthcare stocks is limiting the upside.

Markets in Europe are firmly in negative territory Thursday. Eurozone economic confidence fell to a 5-month low in January and some mixed corporate earnings results are also impacting sentiment.

Markets in the United States are nearing unchanged levels, after giving back their early gains. Durable goods orders plunged by 5.1 percent in December, souring the mood among investors.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday made no change to monetary policy, a month after raising interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. In keeping the benchmark interest rate near 0.25 percent, the Federal Open Market Committee acknowledged economic weakness overseas, particularly China, is a threat to the U.S. recovery.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 57.59 points or 0.47 percent at 12,435.36.

On Wednesday, the index closed up 46.45 points or 0.38 percent, at 12,377.77. The index scaled an intraday high of 12,524.13 and a low of 12,249.81.

The Energy Index is rising 1.90 percent. Crude oil prices are rising Thursday morning amid speculation that OPEC will finally work together on curbing supplies.

Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is rising 3.14 percent and Tourmaline Oil (TOU.TO) is gaining 0.37 percent. Encana (ECA.TO) is climbing 0.74 percent and Husky Energy (HSE.TO) is higher by 0.88 percent. Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) is adding 3.28 percent. Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is increasing 2.07 percent and Canadian Oil Sands (COS.TO) is gaining 2.05 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index is climbing 1 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is up 0.68 percent and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is adding 1.51 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is increasing 1.37 percent and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is rising 1.45 percent.

National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is advancing 0.98 percent, after it announced material changes to two of its mutual funds.

Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is higher by 0.74 percent. The company has received approval from TSX and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada to proceed with its previously-announced normal course issuer bid.

The Capped Industrials Index is rising 0.84 percent. Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is increasing 2.04 percent and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is climbing 1.51 percent. Finning International (FTT.TO) is up 0.53 percent and AutoCanada (ACQ.TO) is adding 1.43 percent.

Bombardier (BBD-B.TO) is falling 5.05 percent. The company has been sued by Comerica over aircraft payments.

The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is gaining 0.31 percent. BCE (BCE.TO) is advancing 0.49 percent and TELUS (T.TO) is rising 2.17 percent. Manitoba Telecom Services (MBT.TO) is higher by 0.41 percent.

The Capped Health Care Index is lower by 2.86 percent. Concordia Healthcare (CXR.TO) is losing 4.52 percent and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX.TO) is falling 3.87 percent.

The Gold Index is down 2.31 percent. Gold prices are basically flat, after posting modest gains in early trade.

Kinross Gold (K.TO) is down 2.12 percent and Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is losing 1.71 percent. Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is down 5.04 percent and Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is decreasing 4.02 percent. Goldcorp (G.TO) is declining 1.73 percent and IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is weakening by 3.77 percent. Royal Gold (RGL.TO) is dropping 4.09 percent.

The Capped Materials Index is also down 1.82 percent. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is falling 1.52 percent and Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is losing 1.94 percent. Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) is declining 3.65 percent and Agrium (AGU.TO) is lower by 0.86 percent.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT.TO) is decreasing 1.42 percent, after it provided earnings outlook for the first quarter and fiscal 2016 below analysts' estimates. The company also slashed its dividend as earnings fell more than forecast in the previous quarter. The Capped Information Technology Index is down 0.69 percent. BlackBerry (BB.TO) is falling 0.31 percent and Avigilon (AVO.TO) is losing 2.70 percent. Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) is declining 1.58 percent and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) is lower by 1.59 percent.

The Diversified Metal and Mining Index is declining 0.87 percent. Sherritt International (S.TO) is losing 2.86 percent and Capstone Mining (CS.TO) is down 1.45 percent. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is falling 4.62 percent and Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) is surrendering 3.57 percent.

Celestica Inc. (CLS.TO) earnings slipped to $38.9 million in Q4 vs. $40.3 million in the same period last year. Shares are sinking 16.67 percent.

Penn West (PWT.TO) is cutting 2016 spending by 90% due to low oil prices. The stock is gaining 4.08 percent.

On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported Thursday morning that Canadian average employee earnings slipped 0.3 percent month over month to C$951 in November. On a year over year basis, the result was up 1.4 percent.

Eurozone economic confidence deteriorated more-than-expected to a five-month low in January as the stock market turmoil and slowdown in China weighed on sentiment across all sub-sectors. The economic confidence index dropped to 105 in January from a revised 106.7 in December, survey results from European Commission showed Thursday.

The reading was forecast to fall marginally to 106.4. This was the lowest score since August, when the reading was 104.

Germany's consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in eight months during January, exceeding economists' expectations, preliminary data from Destatis showed Thursday. The consumer price index climbed 0.5 percent year-on-year following 0.3 percent increase in December. Economists had forecast 0.4 percent rise.

Germany's imports prices declined at the weakest pace in four months during December, figures from Destatis showed Thursday. The import price index fell 3.1 percent year-on-year following a 3.5 percent slump in November. Economists had forecast a 3 percent decline.

Export prices, meanwhile, rose 0.2 percent year-on-year in December after a 0.3 percent increase in the previous month.

The U.K. economy grew at a slightly faster pace in the fourth quarter of 2015, relying entirely on the service sector. The overall growth remained lackluster, trending below quarterly rates of 2014, and annual growth was the weakest in nearly three years.

Gross domestic product climbed 0.5 percent sequentially in the fourth quarter last year, slightly faster than the 0.4 percent expansion posted in the previous three months, preliminary estimate from the Office for National Statistics showed Thursday. The growth rate matched economists' consensus.

UK retail sales volumes declined at the start of the year and orders placed by retailers declined at the fastest pace since May 2013, results of a survey by the Confederation of British Industry showed Thursday.

The monthly Distributive Trends Survey of the CBI gave a sales balance of +16, which was lower than the +19 in December. Economists had forecast a balance of 18.

Partly reflecting a sharp drop in aircraft demand, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing a substantial decrease in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of December.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders plunged by 5.1 percent in December compared to the 0.6 percent drop expected by economists. The flat reading originally reported for November was also revised to a 0.5 percent decrease.

After reporting first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits at a six-month high in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a bigger than expected pullback in initial jobless claims in the week ended January 23rd.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 278,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised level of 294,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to pull back to 285,000 from the 293,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Pending home sales in the U.S. inched slightly higher in the month of December, the National Association of Realtors revealed in a report on Thursday. NAR said its pending home sales inched up 0.1 percent to 106.8 in December from a downwardly revised 106.7 in November. Economists had expected the index to climb by 0.8 percent.

In commodities, crude oil futures for February delivery are up 1.14 or 3.53 percent at $33.44 a barrel.

Natural gas for February is down 0.041 or 1.90 percent at $2.116 per million btu.

Gold futures for February are down $0.40 or 0.04 percent at $1,115.40 an ounce.

Silver for March is down $0.194 or 1.34 percent at $14.265 an ounce.