People walk in Toronto's financial district in Toronto, on Oct. 29, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
March 28, 2014 - 5:53 AM
TORONTO - The Toronto stock market appeared set to open higher Friday amid stronger than expected financial results from BlackBerry Ltd. and expectations that China will move to counter its economic slowdown.
BlackBerry shares were up more than five per cent in pre-market trading after it reported a loss of US$423 million or 80 cents per share for its latest quarter compared with a profit of $98 million or 19 cents per diluted share a year ago.
However, excluding several one-time items, BlackBerry (TSX:BB) said it had an adjusted loss from continuing operations of $42 million or eight cents per share for the quarter.
Analysts on average had expected a loss of 55 cents per share, according to estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters.
Pre-markets on Wall Street were higher as expectations rose for more stimulus in China, where growth has slowed to its weakest since the financial crisis.
The Dow futures jumped 20 points to 16,202, the Nasdaq gained 14.20 points to 3,568.50 and the S&P 500 futures saw an uptick of 5.20 points to 1,845.70.
China has set a target of 7.5 per cent economic growth this year but is more concerned about ensuring sufficient new jobs are created than precisely meeting the GDP figure.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.13 of a cent at 90.77 cents U.S.
In economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department said consumer spending rose 0.3 per cent in February following a 0.2 per cent rise in January, helped by a surge in spending on utility bills.
In February, spending on durable goods such as autos actually dropped as consumers stayed away from auto dealerships.
In commodities, a barrel of benchmark oil gained 24 cents to $101.52, compared to the previous close of $101.28, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold prices lost ground with the June contract down $6.50 to US$1,288.30 an ounce. May copper rose 5 cents to US$3.04 a pound.
European markets were higher with Britain's FTSE 100 adding 0.4 per cent to 6,611.36. Germany's DAX index jumped 0.7 per cent to 9,512.57, while France's CAC 40 rose 0.3 per cent to 4,393.37.
Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.5 per cent to close at 14,696.03. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.2 per cent to 1,981.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.1 per cent to 22,065.53. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.2 per cent to 2,041.71 as major banks reported profits in line with analysts' forecasts.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014