Canadian Stocks Trend Higher At Noon On Upbeat Data

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks rebounded to trade higher Friday morning, with investors tracking some upbeat economic data from Canada and the U.S., while monitoring developments in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index moved higher after some upbeat data showed the Canadian economy to have grown 3.1 percent over year in the second quarter. Economists expected a GDP growth of 2.7 percent, following a 1.2 percent increase in the previous quarter.

Canada's exports advanced 17.8 percent due mainly on gains in automobiles, farm and forest products, with household spending increasing 3.8 percent.

Meanwhile, Statistics Canada said its Industrial Product Price Index fell 0.3 percent in July, due mostly to lower prices of energy and petroleum products. The agency's Raw Materials Price Index also declined 1.4 percent, due mainly to lower prices for crude energy products.

In the U.S. economic front, consumer sentiment improving unexpectedly in an upward revision from a preliminary reading, a Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan report showed Friday.

However, U.S. consumer spending fell for the first time in six months, dropping 0.1 percent, while economists expected spending to inch higher. The disappointing data means the U.S. economy is unlikely to match the robust 4.2% second quarter growth rate in the current quarter.

The uptick in Canadian stocks were led mostly by mining, energy, materials, and information technology shares. The Utilities Index was down 38 percent.

The Capped Materials Index is up 0.85 percent, the Diversified Metals Index is gaining 0.56 percent, the Energy Index is up 0.65 percent, and Information Tech Index is adding 0.51 percent.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 51.64 points or 0.33 percent at 15,609.81 on Friday, having touched a low to 15,516.47 earlier.

On Thursday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index ended at 15,558.17, down 44.48 points or 0.29 percent. The index scaled a intraday high of 15,600.78 and a low of 15,541.95.

Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia continued, with NATO accusing Russia of violating Ukraine's sovereignty, providing military support pro-Russian rebels. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen indicated it was clear Russia had sent its troops into Ukraine.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama has accused Russia for the violence in eastern Ukraine, stating that it was the result of deep Russian involvement and that satellite images supported the claim of involvement. However, Russia continues to deny having any of its troops on Ukrainian territory.

News reports quoted Ukraine Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk as saying that he would push for his country's membership of NATO and would send a bill to the parliament on the issue.

In other the economic news, a report from GfK showed consumer confidence in the U.K. to have rebounded to 1 in August, exceeding expectations for a score of -1.

Eurozone inflation slowed as expected in August on falling energy prices, while unemployment rate remained unchanged at an elevated level in July. Nonetheless, it was at the lowest since September 2012.

Final estimates from Eurostat showed annual inflation in the eurozone to have eased to 0.3 percent in August from 0.4 percent in July, in line with estimates. Another report showed that the unemployment rate in the euro area remained unchanged at a 21-month low of 11.5 percent in July.