Gold, Financials Lift TSX Wednesday Morning - Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks were hovering in the green Wednesday morning amid mixed commodities, with traders digesting today's batch of upbeat macroeconomic data form the world's largest economy. Elsewhere, Asian stocks settled mixed overnight following flat cues from Wall Street and amid caution ahead of another batch of U.S. reports on jobless claims. European markets are trading higher after data showed that Germany's consumer confidence gained momentum.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel clinched an agreement with the Social Democrats to form a coalition government.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 25.69 points or 0.19 percent to 13,375.46, after losing nearly 150 points in the past two sessions.

The price of gold moving higher Wednesday morning with the US dollar trading weak versus a basket of currencies amid the release of macroeconomic data. Gold for February delivery added $3.60 to $1,245.10 an ounce.

Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), Royal Gold (RGL.TO) and Seabridge Gold (SEA.TO) added around 2 percent each.

IAMGOLD Corp. (IMG.TO) rose just over 1 percent after announcing that it along with its subsidiary, Rosebel Gold Mines N.V. will fund the development and operation of a solar power project with an installed capacity of five megawatts in Suriname.

Among financial stocks, Royal Bank (RY.TO), TD Bank (TD.TO) and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) were up nearly 1 percent each.

Latest data from the EIA revealed that US crude oil inventories moved up 3.0 million barrels and gasoline stocks gained 1.80 million barrels last week. Analysts expected supplies to have risen by 0.75 million barrels last week.

Crude for January shed $1.21 to $92.47 a barrel.

In the oil patch, Baytex Energy Corp. (BTE.TO) and Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) were down nearly 2 percent each.

Multi-channel retailer Sears Canada Inc. (SCC.TO) shed close to 2 percent after it said that it has decided to implement several changes to improve efficiency, profitability and overall customer experience.

Quick-service restaurants franchise Tim Hortons Inc. (THI.TO) edged down 0.10 percent after it said it has priced an offering of C$450 million principal amount of 4.52 percent senior unsecured notes due December 1, 2023. The offering is expected to close on November 29.

Global logistics technology solutions provider Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) announced that it has appointed Edward Ryan as its Chief Executive Officer. The stock was down over 3 percent.

Communications services company Ginsms Inc. (GOK.V) gained about 5 percent despite reporting that its second-quarter net loss widened to C$832,129 from C$425,148 in the same quarter the previous year.

In economic news from the U.S., the Labor Department said initial jobless claims slid to 316,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 326,000. The modest decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected jobless claims to climb to 330,000 from the 323,000 originally reported for the previous month.

Separately, the Commerce Department said durable goods orders fell by 2.0 percent in October after jumping by an upwardly revised 4.1 percent in September. The drop in orders matched economist estimates. Excluding the decrease in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders edged down by a more modest 0.1 percent in October compared to a 0.2 percent increase in September. Economists had expected ex-transportation orders to rise by 0.4 percent.

From the euro zone, Germany's consumer confidence gained momentum as the year comes to an end, survey data from the market research group GfK showed. The forward-looking consumer confidence index rose to 7.4 from a revised value of 7.1 points in November. The reading was expected to rise to 7.1 from November's originally estimated value of 7.

Elsewhere, the U.K. economy expanded 0.8 percent in the third quarter from the previous quarter, in line with the initial estimate published on October 25. Gross domestic product grew at the fastest pace since the second quarter of 2010, and follows 0.7 percent growth in the second quarter of 2013, data from the Office for National Statistics showed.