TSX Surges To End Higher On Bernanke Comments - Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks ended sharply higher Thursday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated continuation of its monetary stimulus program with Chairman Ben Bernanke stating that the central bank would keep interest rates low even after its unemployment target is reached. All sub-indices of the main index ended in positive territory, driven mainly by gold stocks following a sharp spike in bullion prices.

Bernanke on Wednesday played down chances of imminent monetary stimulus withdrawal. Speaking at a conference sponsored by the National Bureau of Economic Research, he said the central bank would likely maintain its highly accommodative monetary policy "for the foreseeable future" as unemployment is still too high and inflation remains low. He also reiterated that the central bank would be in no hurry to raise interest rates, even after unemployment levels reach the target of 6.5 percent.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed Thursday at 12,493.26, up 186.33 points or 1.51 percent. The index touched an intraday high of 12,496.29 and a low of 12,306.93.

The Global Gold Index soared 6.56 percent, with gold futures for August delivery surging $32.50 or 2.6 percent to close at $1,279.90 an ounce Thursday on the Nymex.

Among gold stocks, Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI.TO) jumped 6.52 percent, while Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) surged 7.30 percent. IAMGOLD Corp. (IMG.TO) soared 8.29 percent, while Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO) jumped 7.90 percent. Kinross Gold Corp. (K.TO) gained 5.54 percent, while B2Gold Corp. (BTO.TO) added 6.05 percent.

The Capped Materials Index jumped 4.64 percent, with Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc.(POT.TO) adding 0.90 percent.

The Diversified Metals & Mining Index soared 4.02 percent, with First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.TO) up 4.72 percent and Teck Resources Limited (TCK.B.TO) surging 6.73 percent. Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN.TO) added 2.84 percent, while Osisko Mining Corp. (OSK.TO) surged 7.01 percent.

Oil prices slumped after the International Energy Agency, earlier today forecast supply from non-OPEC countries to grow 1.3 million barrels a day next year, with supplies to rise 1.2 million barrels a day this year. The agency also nudged up its global oil demand forecast for 2013 and has forecast demand to grow by 1.2 mbd in 2014.

The Energy Index added 1.46 percent, although U.S. crude oil futures for August delivery dropped $1.61 or 1.5 percent to close at $104.91 a barrel Thursday on the Nymex.

Among energy stocks, Suncor Energy Inc. (SU.TO) gained 2.58 percent, while Enbridge Inc. (ENB.TO) added 1.20 percent. Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM.TO) dropped 1.80 percent, while Encana Corp. (ECA.TO) added 0.78 percent. Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ.TO) gained 1.90 percent.

The Financial Index gained 0.88 percent with Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC.TO) down 0.66 percent, Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) up 2.15 percent, and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) up 1.08 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) moved up 0.64 percent, while Toronto-Dominion Bank added 0.84 percent.

The Information Technology Index moved up 0.49 percent, although BlackBerry (BB.TO) slipped 1.12 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index added 0.76 percent, with Bombardier Inc. (BBD.A.TO, BBD.B.TO) gaining 1.66 percent..

Forest product company West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (WFT.TO) surged 6.12 percent.

Audio entertainment company Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc. (XSR.TO), parent of Sirius XM Canada Inc., added 4.03 percent after reporting a swing to profit in third-quarter, with net income of C$776,119 or C$0.01 per share compared to a loss of C$4.2 million or C$0.03 per share in the same quarter last year. Analysts expected the company to earn C$0.02 per share for the quarter.

Meanwhile, communications & entertainment company Corus Entertainment Inc. (CJR_B.TO) lost 4.85 percent even after reporting sharply higher third-quarter net income of C$89.91 million or C$1.07 per share versus last year's C$43.22 million or C$0.51 per share. However, excluding one time items, adjusted net income came in at C$34.52 million, or C$0.41 per basic share in the third quarter.

In economic news, Statistics Canada said the New Housing Price Index rose 0.1 percent in May, after recording a 0.2 percent increase in April and continuing a series of similar increases over the past 12 months.

In economic news from the U.S., the Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose to 360,000, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 344,000. The increase surprised economists, who had been expecting jobless claims to ease to 340,000 from the 343,000 originally reported for the previous week.

In a separate report, the department said imports prices fell by 0.2 percent in June following a revised 0.7 percent decrease in May. Economists had been expecting import prices to inch up by 0.1 percent. Additionally, the report said export prices edged down by 0.1 percent in June after dropping by 0.5 percent in the previous month. The drop in export prices matched economist estimates.

From the eurozone, Germany's whole sale prices increased modestly in June after falling for two months in a row, latest data from the Federal Statistical Office showed. The wholesale price index increased 0.7 percent on an annual basis in June, reversing decreases of 0.1 percent and 0.4 percent recorded in May and April. Economists were looking for an increase of 1 percent.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan on Thursday decided to keep its monetary easing program unchanged, while upwardly revising its assessment of the economy citing signs of recovery. The nine-member policy board unanimously decided to keep the target of the monetary base expansion at an annual pace of JPY 60-70 trillion, in line with expectations.