TSX surges as China moves to encourage growth

The S&P/TSX composite index ran ahead 165.06 points to 12,623.36 while the TSX Venture Exchange jumped 20.49 points to 1,678.63.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.43 of a cent to 100.34 cents US after Greece on Monday finally secured its second massive bailout in less than two years.

But traders realized that there are many hurdles still to be cleared and Greece remains burdened with massive amounts of debt even after its private creditors agreed to a huge writedown of debt. The prevailing view in the markets is that Greece remains insolvent and that its debt crisis still has a few more chapters to run.

“If you look broadly at what the deal does, it’s more of a can-kicking exercise than actual resolution but we didn’t expect anything different,” said Craig Fehr, Canadian markets specialist at Edward Jones in St. Louis.

“It’s not going to solve the long-term issues. The long-term issues are really about reducing structural government debt levels to sustainable positions. What this does is it buys time.”

Most U.S. indexes chalked up small gains while the Dow Jones industrial average cracked the 13,000-mark, a level not seen since May 2008, before the financial crisis brought the U.S. economy to its knees.

The blue chip barometer later backed off slightly and closed up 15.82 points at 12,965.69. The Nasdaq was down 3.21 points to 2,948.57 and the S&P 500 index rose 0.98 of a point to 1,362.21.

Commodity prices advanced after China’s central bank moved over the weekend to cut banks’ reserve ratios to encourage lending. The People’s Bank of China said that it will reduce the proportion of cash that banks must set aside by half a percentage point to 20.5% from Feb. 24.

The bank had moved repeatedly over the last couple of years to tighten lending requirements in order to slow the economy to get a grip on high inflation.

“When we get a data point or any reports that show that growth out of China and thus the demand for commodities and raw materials is going to get increased, that is going to have a proportional benefit to the TSX relative to some of those other markets,” Fehr said.

Traders also took in major acquisition activity.

Calgary-based oil and gas contractor Flint Energy Services Ltd. (TSX:FES) said Monday it is being bought by U.S. engineering and construction giant URS Corp. for $1.25 billion in cash, a 68% premium to Flint’s closing price Friday on the TSX. The deal reflects booming growth in Alberta’s oilsands and North American shale gas and its shares jumped $9.89 to C$24.79.

And on Tuesday, Newfoundland-based power company Fortis Inc. (TSX:FTS) said it is buying New York state utility CH Energy Group Inc. in a cash and debt deal worth US$1.5 billion. Fortis shares dipped 47 cents to C$32.38.

Prices for oil and metals advanced as the March crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $2.60 to US$105.84 a barrel. The TSX energy sector gained 1.38% and Suncor Energy (TSX:SU) was up 60 cents to C$34.74 and Cenovus Energy (TSX:CVE) advanced 58 cents to $39.31.

Other energy service companies also advanced in the wake of the Flint Energy deal, with Trican Well Service (TSX:TCW) ahead 78 cents to $16.97.

The base metals sector climbed 2.72% as metal prices also climbed with the March copper contract up 13 cents to US$3.84 a pound. China is the world’s biggest consumer of the metal, which is known as an economic barometer because it is used in so many businesses. Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) gained $1.14 to C$39.44 and HudBay Minerals (TSX:HBM) gained 27 cents to $12.11.

April bullion was ahead $32.60 to US$1,758.50 an ounce and the gold sector jumped almost three per cent. Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) was ahead $1.42 to C$48.25 while Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) improved by $1.35 to $48.16.

Financials also gained momentum, up about one per cent as Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) rose 59 cents to $54.16 while Sun Life Financial (TSX:SLF) moved ahead 72 cents to $21.47.

On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada said retail sales edged down 0.2% in December to $38.6 billion, following four consecutive monthly increases.

In other corporate developments, Paladin Labs Inc. (TSX:PLB) announced Tuesday its “most significant strategic corporate expansion initiative to date” — a more than $50-million deal to expand its business in South Africa. When completed it will end up with a nearly 45% stake in Litha Healthcare Group Ltd, making it the largest shareholder in the South African producer of vaccines, drugs, medical devices and other products. Paladin shares dipped 51 cents to $42.04.

Traders also took in major earnings news from the U.S.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported a 4.2% decline in fourth-quarter profits to US$5.16 billion or $1.50 a share. Net sales rose 5.9% to $122.28 billion. Its shares fell 3.87% to US$60.06.

Home Depot Inc.’s fiscal fourth-quarter net income rose 32% to US$774 million or 50 cents a share. Quarterly revenue increased six per cent to $16.01 billion.