TORONTO - The Toronto stock market surged Wednesday following a surprise jump in U.S. durable goods orders last month while investors took in a major deal in the Canadian oilpatch.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved up 130.2 points to 10,026.9 following a 63-point advance on Tuesday.
The rise was slight compensation for a 454-point plunge on Monday, which was triggered by a World Bank report that global economic contraction this year would be worse than thought.
Addax Petroleum Corp. (TSX:AXC) said Wednesday it has reached a deal that will see it be acquired by Chinese oil and gas giant Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corp. for $8.27 billion. The wholly-owned subsidiary of China Petrochemical Corp. will pay $52.80 per share. Its shares closed Tuesday at $45.65 and on Wednesday its shares rose $5.10 to $50.75.
Overall, the energy sector was 1.5 per cent higher even as the August crude contract in New York lost 24 cents to US$69 a barrel. Suncor Inc. (TSX:SU) gained 47 cents to $33.63.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.49 of a cent to 87.45 cents US.
The TSX Venture Exchange was 3.78 points higher to 1,077.96.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average advanced 52.8 points to 8,375.7 after the U.S. Commerce Department reported a 1.8 per cent rise in May orders for big-ticket items. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters were anticipating a decline of 0.6 per cent.
"This is an amazing feat in the face of auto plant shutdowns and a still-fragile economy," said BMO Capital Markets senior economist Sal Guatieri.
"While autos/parts slid eight per cent due to the plant shutdowns and still-weak vehicle demand, solid gains in machinery and computers/electronics more than compensated. The reopening of Chrysler's plants in late June and GM's facilities in late July could extend the recent uptrend in goods orders."
The Nasdaq composite index gained 21.61 points to 1,786.53 while the S&P 500 index rose 7.15 points to 902.25.
The strong durable goods report comes ahead of the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates and assessment of the economy, as well as data on new home sales.
The central bank will wrap up its scheduled meeting on interest rates at mid-afternoon.
The Fed is widely expected to leave its key rate unchanged at a range of zero to 0.25 per cent. Its outlook for the economy, however, is less clear.
Many investors bought into the market rally that started in early March on hopes for a late-year economic recovery.
The durable goods report overshadowed another report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (CD) said that the deepest global recession in over 60 years is close to bottoming out. But it warned recovery will be weak unless governments take further action to remove uncertainty over banks' balance sheets.
Elsewhere on the TSX, the base metals sector was almost three per cent higher as the price of copper gained six cents to US$2.26 a pound. Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) gained 73 cents to $18.57.
The financial sector gained 1.22 per cent with TD Bank (TSX:TD) ahead 62 cents to $56.55.
Investment management firm AGF Management Ltd. (TSX:AGF.B) said second quarter profits were down 61 per cent from a year ago to $17.2 million. AGF said profits and revenues were dragged down by continued global market weakness. Its shares were ahead 49 cents to $11.50.
The August bullion contract on the Nymex rose $14.60 to US$938.90 an ounce and the gold sector rose one per cent.
In other corporate news, software maker Oracle Corp.'s results for its latest quarter topped Wall Street's forecast Tuesday, despite a five per cent drop in sales and a seven per cent decline in profit. The company blamed the declines on the effects of a stronger U.S. dollar - which makes deals done in other currencies translate into fewer greenbacks. Companies also have been shelling out less for new software because of the recession.
Canadian dairy company Saputo Inc. (TSX:SAP) said Tuesday it has signed a deal to buy cheesemaker F&A Dairy of California Inc. Terms of the deal were not immediately available. Saputo shares added eight cents to $23.19.
Overseas stock prices were also higher.
Japan's Nikkei stock average gained 0.4 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose two per cent.
Britain's FTSE 100 was 0.7 per cent higher, Germany's DAX index rose 1.43 per cent, and France' s CAC-40 climbed 1.25 per cent.