Canadian Stocks Waffle As Putin Talks Peace -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are swinging between gains and losses Wednesday morning with investors reacting to a slew of earnings and economic data.

Investors are also digesting the testimony of the U.S. Federal Reserve Chief Janet Yellen at the Joint Economic Committee and Russian President Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement that he would seek a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine crisis.

With crude oil prices moving higher following a surprise decline in stockpiles, energy stocks are advancing.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 9.44 points or 0.05 percent at 14,621.73, coming off a low of 14,572.13.

On Tuesday, the index ended down 84.74 points or 0.58 percent at 14,612.29, after scaling an intraday high of 14,697.03.

In corporate news, Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF.TO) reported first-quarter net income of C$400 million or C$0.65 per share, down from C$513 million or C$0.85 per share in the same period last year. The stock is modestly higher.

Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (GTE.TO) shares are down nearly 2 percent after the company said its first-quarter net income declined to $45.13 million from $57.91 million in the prior year. Earnings per share fell to $0.16 from $0.20.

HSBC Bank Canada (HSB.PC.TO) shares are little changed on reporting first quarter profit of C$169 million, down from C$186 million a year ago. The bank's basic earnings per share declined to C$0.32, from C$0.34 for the same period last year.

Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM.TO) is advancing 2 percent despite reporting a net loss of $1.01 billion or $0.98 per share for the fourth quarter, compared to net income of $376 million or $0.31 per share in the year ago quarter.

Encana Corp. (ECA.TO) shares are up 4.5 percent after Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) said its subsidiary Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas, has entered into a definitive purchase and sale agreement to sell its Eagle Ford Shale assets for $3.1 billion to a subsidiary of Encana.

Torstar Corp. (TS.B.TO) said its first quarter net income grew to C$7.1 million, or C$0.09 per share, from C$4.2 million, or C$0.05 per share, last year. The stock is down 0.7 percent.

Enbridge, Inc. (ENB.TO) shares are modestly lower after the company said it posted first-quarter earnings of C$390 million, or C$0.47 per share, compared to last year's C$250 million, or C$0.31 per share.

Intact Financial Corp. (IFC.TO) is down 0.5 percent after the company reported first quarter net income of C$160 million, down from C$174 million for the same period last year.

Tim Hortons Inc. (THI.TO) reported a 5.5% rise in its first-quarter 2014 net income attributable to the company to C$90.9 million, from C$86.2 million, last year. The stock is lower by about 0.4 percent.

In the energy space, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ.TO), Crescent Point Energy Corp. (CPG.TO), Canadian Oil Sands Limited (COS.TO), Long Run Exploration Ltd. (LRE.TO) and Husky Energy Inc. (HSE.TO) are higher by 0.8 to 2 percent. Meanwhile, Lightstream Resources Ltd. (LTS.TO) is rising over 5 percent.

Among gold stocks, Goldcorp Inc. (G.TSX), Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO), Silver Wheaton Corp. (SLW.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM.TO), B2Gold Corp. (BTO.TO), Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI.TO) and Kinross Gold Corporation (K.TO) are down 0.6 to 2 percent, while Detour Gold Corporation (DGC.TO) is declining by over 3 percent.

The big six banks are little changed from their last closing levels.

Real estate stocks Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM.A.TO), RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (REI.UN.TO), H&R Real Estate Investment Trust (HR.UN.TO) and Brookfield Property Partners L.P. (BPY.UN.TO) are up 0.5 to 2 percent.

In the technology space, Constellation Software Inc. (CSU.TO), Celestica Inc. (CLS.TO) and Descartes Systems Group Inc. (DSG.TO) are down 0.8 to 2 percent. BlackBerry Limited (BB.TO) is lower by over 3 percent.

Meanwhile, Avigilon Corporation (AVO.TO) shares are down over 15 percent. On Tuesday, the company named Mr Wan Jung as the interim chief financial officer after Mr Bradely Bardua stepped down on health grounds.

Healthcare stocks Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (VRX.TO) and Catamaran Corporation (CCT.TO) are declining by over 1.5 percent.

In commodities, crude futures for June are up $1.05 or 1.05 percent at $100.55 a barrel after the official inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed crude oil stockpiles to have unexpectedly declined by 1.8 million barrels to 397.6 million barrels in the week ended May 2.

Worries about possible supply disruptions from Russia are also supporting oil's rise.

Natural gas is down $0.018 or 0.39 percent at $4.801 per million btu.

Gold futures for June delivery are down $11.90 or 0.91 percent at $1,296.70 an ounce.

Silver for July is down $0.250 or 1.27 percent at $19.395 an ounce. Meanwhile, copper is down $0.030 or 0.97 percent at $3.027 per pound, amid concerns about a drop in demand from China.3.027 -0.030 (-0.97%)

On the economic front, the data from Statistics Canada showed building permits were down 3 percent at $6 billion in March. That followed an 11.3 percent fall in February.

The report showed the value of permits in the non-residential sector to have fallen 8.8 percent to $2.3 billion in March, the lowest level since January 2013. The value of permits in residential sector rose 1.0 per cent to $3.7 billion, following a 20.8 percent decrease in February.

The total value of permits was down in five provinces in March, with Ontario posting the largest decline, followed by Quebec and New Brunswick.

In economic news from the U.S., the Labor Department said productivity dropped at an annual rate of 1.7 percent in the first quarter amid disruptions caused at U.S. workplaces by harsh winter weather.

The report showed unit labor costs to have jumped by 4.2 percent in the first quarter, the biggest increase in five quarters.

The consensus estimate called for a 1.2 percent quarter-over-quarter drop in productivity, while unit labor costs were expected to have risen 2.8 percent.

In her testimony to the Joint Economic Committee in Washington, the Federal Reserve Chief Janet Yellen said that high a degree of monetary accommodation remains warranted due to slackness in labor markets and the continuation of inflation below the Fed's 2 percent objective.

At 3 pm ET, the Federal Reserve will release its report on consumer credit for March. Economists expect outstanding consumer credit to have increased by $15.1 billion in March compared to a $16.5 billion in February.