Canadian Stocks Rise as CN, RIM, Natural Gas Producers Advance

Canadian stocks rose as Canadian National Railway Co. gained for a second day after reporting earnings that topped analyst estimates and natural gas producers advanced as the fuel climbed to a three-month high.

CN, the country’s largest railroad, rallied 2.4 percent a day after at least 15 analysts boosted their share-price estimates. Encana Corp., Canada’s biggest natural gas producer, rose 2.2 percent after U.S. supplies increased less than most economists had forecast and crude settled at $112.86 a barrel. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer, fell 2.8 percent as corn and wheat dropped.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 1.83 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 13,894.40. Among S&P/TSX stocks, 131 gained, 112 declined and five were unchanged.

“People were mostly too bearish with the winter that we got as well as fuel at $113,” Luc Girard, director of the portfolio advisory group at Desjardins Securities in Montreal, which manages about C$18 billion, said of CN. “Investors were too negative about the earnings.”

The index is poised to end April with its first negative monthly total return including dividends since June, ending the longest streak of gains since 1983. Energy and financial stocks have dropped on data and forecasts indicating the U.S. economic recovery is slowing.

CN advanced for a seventh day, increasing 2.4 percent to C$73.14 after Norfolk Southern Corp. reported profit that topped analyst estimates. CN raised its own full-year profit forecast on April 26.

Gates’s Holding

The shares have risen 4.7 percent since April 24, when CN said Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates’ Cascade Investment LLC has become its biggest shareholder. CN’s seven-day streak of gains is the longest since November 2009.

Energy companies climbed after the U.S. Energy Department said natural gas supplies increased 31 billion cubic feet last week, compared with the median analyst estimate of 38 billion cubic feet.

Encana Corp., Canada’s largest natural gas producer, rose 2.2 percent to C$31.42, erasing four days of losses. Nexen Inc., an oil and gas producer with operations on five continents, gained for a sixth day, advancing 3.1 percent to C$24.71. Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., the largest owner of the Syncrude project, climbed 1 percent to C$31.66.

Enbridge Inc., Canada’s largest pipeline company, declined 1.8 percent to C$61.23 after Sam Kanes, an analyst at Bank of Nova Scotia, cut his rating on the shares to “sector perform.” The shares had surged 64 percent since Kanes rated them “sector outperform” in October 2008.

Force Majeure

Sterling Resources Ltd., which explores for oil and gas in Europe, slumped 11 percent, the most in 26 months, to C$3.91 after declaring force majeure on its offshore licenses in Romania. In a press release, the company cited what it called political obstacles from the Romanian government.

Oilfield-services company Flint Energy Services Ltd. sank 7.8 percent, the most since July 2009, to C$14.94 after saying it had a first-quarter loss of 8 Canadian cents a share to 14 Canadian cents a share. All six analysts in a Bloomberg survey had forecast a profit.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. advanced 2 percent to C$53.83 after Jeff Kvaal, an analyst at Barclays, said Barclays’ survey of stores found most PlayBook buyers’ feedback has been positive. Shares of the Waterloo, Ontario-based company plunged 27 percent in the 12 months ending yesterday.

Grains Slide

Fertilizer producers retreated as corn slumped the most in six weeks after a U.S. government report showed slowing demand. Wheat tumbled as rain fell in parts of the U.S. that had suffered dry spells.

Potash Corp. dropped 2.8 percent to C$52.69. Agrium Inc., Canada’s second-largest fertilizer producer, slipped 1.4 percent to C$85.17.

Producers of raw materials used in industry fell after the U.S. Commerce Department said gross domestic product rose at a 1.8 percent annualized rate in the first quarter. Economists had estimated economic growth of 2 percent, according to the median of 80 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

U.S. initial jobless claims increased to 429,000 last week from a revised 404,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said in Washington. The median economist forecast in a Bloomberg survey was 395,000.

Copper, Coal

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest base-metals and coal producer, dropped 2.5 percent to C$51.08. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., which is building a copper and gold mine in Mongolia with Rio Tinto group, declined 1 percent to C$24.83. Grande Cache Coal Corp., which produces coal used in steel mills, lost 3.1 percent to C$8.12, extending its monthly tumble to 21 percent.

Thomson Reuters Corp., the financial news and information provider, decreased 2.6 percent to C$38.11 after its first- quarter profit trailed the average of 14 analyst estimates by 2.3 percent, excluding certain items. Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, competes with Thomson Reuters in selling financial and legal information and trading systems.

Imax Corp., the maker of giant-screen movie-projection systems, climbed 6 percent to a 10-year high of C$32.55 after raising its 2011 forecast for theater signings by 40 percent. In a note to clients, James M. Marsh, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos., called the estimate “massive.”

Gold explorer European Goldfields Ltd. soared 12 percent to C$12.96 after Reuters said Greece is close to approving the company’s environmental-impact study for two mines. The news service cited the country’s environment ministry.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-27/mullen-group-open-text-prodigy-gold-canadian-equity-preview.html)