TSX Edges Up Amid Flat Commodities - Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks were hovering in the green Tuesday morning with commodities struggling to move higher amid uncertainty over the direction of Federal Reserve monetary policy. Top Fed officials Charles Plosser and William Dudley yesterday pointed to improvement in the U.S. economy, increasing investor anxiety ahead of Bernanke speech and the release of the minutes of the FOMC's October policy meeting on Wednesday.

Asian stocks ended mixed overnight tracking a weak lead from Wall Street overnight after billionaire investor Carl Icahn said he is "very cautious" on equities and that corporate earnings are largely driven by low borrowing costs rather than management. The European markets are trading lower even after Germany's economic sentiment rose more-than-expected in November to its highest level in four years.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index edged up 19.38 points or 0.14 percent to 13,477.44, a day after snapping its three-session winning streak.

The price of crude oil was ticking lower Tuesday morning as traders await more cues on the demand outlook, with the US dollar trading flat versus a basket of currencies. Today after the market hours, the API will release its US crude oil inventories report for the weekended November 15. Crude for December slipped $0.02 to $93.01 a barrel.

In the oil patch, Coastal Energy (CEN.TO) jumped 27 percent after announcing that it would be acquired by Compañia Española de Petroleos, S.A.U. for C$19.00 per share cash, representing a 28 percent premium to its latest closing price or aggregate value of about C$2.3 billion

The price of gold was little changed Tuesday morning with the US dollar trading mixed amid ongoing uncertainty over the direction of Federal Reserve monetary policy. Gold for December edged up $1.90 to $1,274.20 an ounce.

Among gold plays, Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) and Goldcorp. (G.TO) were up around 2 percent each.

Multi-channel retailer Sears Canada (SCC.TO) gained over 7 percent despite reporting wider third quarter net loss of C$48.8 million or C$0.48 per share compared to C$21.9 million or C$0.22 per share for the third quarter last year. Further, the company declared an extraordinary cash dividend of $5 per share or approximately $509 million.

Bombardier Inc. (BBD_B.TO) rose about 2 percent after it said its unit Bombardier Aerospace received firm orders for Q400 NextGen turboprop airliners from Thai carrier Nok Air for about $63 million, which could increase to $258 million.

In economic news from the U.S., the Labor Department said its employment cost index rose by 0.4 percent in the third quarter following a 0.5 percent increase in the second quarter. Economists had expected the index to rise by another 0.5 percent. Wages and salaries increased by 0.3 percent in the third quarter after rising by 0.4 percent in the second quarter, while benefits rose by 0.7 percent compared to a 0.4 percent increase in the previous quarter.

From the euro zone, Germany's economic sentiment rose more-than-expected in November to its highest level in four years, results of a survey by the Centre for European Economic Research/ZEW showed. The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany rose to 54.6 from 52.8 in October. Economists had forecast a score of 54. The latest reading is the highest since October 2009, ZEW said.

Elsewhere, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development downgraded its global growth projections citing worsening outlook for some emerging economies. The world economy will grow 2.7 percent this year, down from 3.1 percent projected in May, it said. In 2014, growth is forecast to rise to 3.6 percent and then to 3.9 percent in 2015. The estimate for 2014 was lowered from 4 percent.