May 6 (Reuters) - Toronto’s main stock index could open lower on Thursday as lingering worries about Greece’s debt crisis spreading to other euro zone states offset positive corporate news.
Wall Street looked set to open lower after the European Central Bank left monetary policy unchanged, disappointing investors looking to the ECB to prevent a debt crisis from engulfing the euro zone. [.N]
In Canadian earnings news, auto-parts maker Magna MGa.TO said it swung to a profit and Canada’s biggest airline Air Canada ACa.TO posted a narrower loss.
In London, voting began in what is forecast to be the closest election since 1992, with the opposition Conservatives struggling to convert their opinion poll advantage into an outright majority.
Asian stocks were down with Nikkei seeing biggest percentage loss in one day since March last year as it caught up with the global selloff after a three-day holiday.
Here is some news that could affect stock prices:
Oil hovered near $80 a barrel after earlier hitting a six-week low as fears that Greece’s economic crisis may spread to other European nations raised uncertainty over future global energy demand. [O/R]
Copper steadied as bets the Chinese might buy metal below $7,000 a tonne helped offset the negative impact of a tumbling euro and mounting concern over the potential for a euro zone debt crisis. [MET/L]
Gold rose nearly 1 percent towards $1,185 an ounce in Europe and hit record highs in euros, sterling and Swiss francs as investors worried Greece’s debt problems could spread elsewhere in the euro zone. [GOL/]
BCE Inc (BCE.TO), Canada’s biggest communications company, posted a 61 percent rise in first-quarter profit on Thursday on the back of rising revenue, lower costs and a gain on investments. [ID:nN06251322]
Magna International Inc MGa.TO swung to a quarterly profit on the back of a pickup in global vehicle production rates and cost cuts, and reinstated its quarterly dividend. The auto parts maker also inked an agreement with its founder Frank Stronach’s group, whereby Class A subordinate voting shares could choose to eliminate the dual class share structure by which Stronach has controlled Magna. [ID:nSGE6450HC]
Canada’s biggest airline company Air Canada ACa.TOACb.TO reported a narrower first-quarter loss on Thursday, as revenues and passenger traffic increased, reflecting a strengthening economic recovery. [ID:nSGE6450FA]
Brookfield Properties BPO.TO BPO.N said its first-quarter funds from operations rose 30 percent, helped by higher operating income from both commercial and residential property. [ID:nSGE6450H5]
Canada’s Biovail Corp BVF.TO BVF.N reported a quarterly loss on Thursday hurt by research and development expenditures acquired in recent transactions. [ID:nN06255568]
Canada’s No. 3 life insurer, Sun Life Financial Inc (SLF.TO) reported a better than expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, more than reversing a loss in the first quarter a year ago, as global stock markets and favorable interest rates boosted earnings. [ID:nN05120633]
Canadian drugmaker Aeterna Zentaris Inc AEZ.TO said on Thursday that U.S. regulators have granted their ovarian cancer treatment orphan-drug status. [ID:nN06247413]
Thompson Creek Metals TCM.TO said its first-quarter profit fell 87 percent, as a non-cash $24.5 million accounting charge more than offset the impact of rising molybdenum prices. [ID:nN0598509]
Petrominerales Ltd PMG.TO posted a 10-fold increase in quarterly profit, aided by a surge in oil production. [ID:nSGE6450FG]
Eye-care company QLT Inc’s QLT.TO QLTI.O quarterly profit more than doubled, primarily driven by a non-cash income tax recovery. [ID:nSGE6450IR]
WI-LAN POSTS PROFIT
Technology licensing firm Wi-LAN Inc WIN.TO posted a quarterly profit, partly helped by higher-than-expected royalty reports from licensees, and raised its 2010 revenue and pro-forma earnings outlook. [ID:nSGE6450G8]
Media and marketing company Yellow Pages Income Fund YLO_u.TO posted a quarterly profit that missed estimates, hurt by a 27 percent drop in cash flow from operations. [ID:nSGE6450IV]
Alamos Gold Inc (AGI.TO) reported a 59 percent rise in quarterly profit, driven in part by higher gold sales and lower cash operating costs per ounce. [ID:nSGE6450H3]
Following is a summary of research actions on Canadian companies reported by Reuters on Thursday. [RCH/CA]
Note: All values in RESEARCH ROUNDUP in Canadian currency, unless otherwise stated.
* Aecon Group (ARE.TO) price target cut to $15 from $16; rating buy at Canaccord Adams
* Industrial Alliance (IAG.TO) price target raised to $39 from $37; rating hold at Genuity
* Killam Properties KMP.TO price target raised to $9.25 from $8.75; rating outperform at Raymond James
* Kinross Gold (K.TO) price target cut to $22.75 from $23.50; rating buy at Salman Partners
* Linamar (LNR.TO) price target raised to $25 from $21; rating buy at Genuity
* MDA MDA.TO price target raised to $51 from $44; rating outperform at Raymond James
* Primaris REIT PMZ_u.TO price target raised to $18 from $17; rating outperform at RBC
* Telus Corp (T.TO) price target raised to $45 from $39; rating buy at Genuity
* Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO) price target raised to $39 from $36; rating equal-weight at Morgan Stanley ($1=$1.01 Canadian) (Reporting by Bangalore newsroom, editing by Savio D’Souza and Jeffrey Hodgson)
