TSX Up On Stimulus Hopes - Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks were extending gains for a third session Friday morning amid steady commodities, with risk appetite improving after Federal Reserve chairwoman-designate Janet Yellen indicated the U.S. central bank is in no rush to pare economic stimulus.

While most Asian markets settled higher overnight taking cues from the Wall Street, the European markets are holding on to recent gains, after a rally in the previous session that followed some dovish remarks from Fed chief-designate Janet Yellen

The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 36.11 points or 0.27 percent to 13,467.49, after adding just over 100 points in the past two sessions.

After falling near a six-month low, the price of crude oil was little changed Friday morning amid a generally steady US dollar. Crude for December edged up $0.19 to $93.95 a barrel.

In the oil patch, Niko Resources (NKO.TO) dived over 50 percent after reporting second quarter net loss of $149 million.

Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Baytex Energy Corp. (BTE.TO) and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) added around 1.0 percent each

After recording sharp gains in the previous session, the price of gold was ticking lower Friday morning amid a firm US dollar. Gold for December shed $0.20 to $1,286.10 an ounce.

Among gold plays, Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) and Goldcorp. (G.TO) were down nearly 1 percent each, while Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) edging up 0.50 percent.

Base metals mining firm Mercator Minerals (ML.TO) lost 14 percent after reporting a sharply wider third quarter loss of C$151.9 million or C$0.48 per basic share from C$15.1 million or C$0.06 per basic share in the prior year.

Private equity company Onex Corp. (OCX.TO) gathered over 1 percent after reporting a surge in third-quarter net income at $399 million or $3.22 per share compared with $98 million or $1.50 per share last year.

Broadband communications service provider TeraGo Inc. (TGO.TO) announced the resignation of Bryan Boyd as President and CEO and as a board member of the company and its subsidiary. The company appointed, Charles Allen as Chairman of the Board to act as Interim President and CEO. The stock lost 11 percent.

In economic news, Statistics Canada said manufacturing sales hit their highest level since June 2012, rising 0.6 percent to $49.9 billion in September. The gain was largely a result of higher sales in the motor vehicle assembly and food industries.

From the U.S., the the Labor Department said said import prices fell by 0.7 percent in October after inching up by 0.1 percent in September. Economists had been expecting import prices to drop by about 0.5 percent. Additionally, the Labor Department said exports prices dropped by 0.5 percent in October following a 0.4 percent increase in the previous month. Export prices had been expected to edge up by 0.2 percent.

Separately, a report from the Federal Reserve said industrial production edged down by 0.1 percent in October after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.7 percent in September. Economists had been expecting production to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.6 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Elsewhere, euro zone inflation slowed to 0.7 percent in October, as initially estimated, from 1.1 percent in September, final data from Eurostat showed. The rate was the lowest since November 2009. Moreover, it has remained below the European Central Bank's target of 'below, but close to 2 percent' for the ninth month in a row. Month-on-month, consumer prices were down 0.1 percent in October, the statistical office said.