Canadian stocks rise on positive earnings

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) � Canadian stocks rose modestly on Friday, getting a lift from upbeat U.S. corporate earnings, but the benchmark was weighed by a weak performance among mining producers.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index CA:GSPTSE added 6 points to 12,147.

Microsoft Corp. MSFT � and General Electric Co. GE � reported better-than-expected results, keeping the momentum going for the first-quarter earnings season and pushing U.S. stocks higher. But the TSX index�s gains were moderated by somewhat weak mining stocks, said John Kinsey, a portfolio manager at Caldwell Securities.

Click to Play Verizon's answer to iPhone:Windows

Verizon, fed up with the high costs of offering the iPhone, plans to push smartphones powered by Microsoft's Windows software, as a counterweight to the popular Apple device. (Photo: HTC)

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. CA:CP �reported its first-quarter net profit of C$142 million, or 82 Canadian cents a share, up from C$34 million, or 20 Canadian cents a share, it earned a year earlier.

But the strong earnings were offset by the company�s proxy war as its largest shareholder, Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management LP, is pushing to replace the company�s chief executive and half of its board members at its annual meeting next month.

Shares of the company were up 0.6%.

The S&P/TSX Capped Consumer Discretionary Index XX:TTCD �led gainers, with shares of Thomson Reuters Corp. CA:TRI �adding 1.3% after the company launched its Direct Intelligence Service for Insurance, a direct data feed of live regulatory information that insurance-compliance managers can use to manage risk.

The energy sector rose on higher oil prices. Legacy Oil + Gas Inc. CA:LEG �shares gained 1.7% and Suncor Energy Inc CA:SU �declined 1.4%.

Shares of gold producers were lower, with Barrick Gold Corp. CA:ABX �shares sliding 1.7%. Shares of Kinross Gold Corp CA:K �fell 1.2%.

Among the top performers, Cameco Corp. CA:CCO shares rose 4.5% after TD upgraded the uranium producer�s rating to buy from hold, saying an �improved tone� in the uranium market should translate into higher prices for the commodity later this year, Dow Jones reported.

Air Canada CA:AC.B rose 1.2% after the airline and its union said they would return to negotiate a new labor deal for 10 days to avoid a government-imposed settlement.

Shares of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. CA:SNC �rose 1.8% after Reuters reported that CANDU Energy, a unit of the engineering giant, is in talks with the Turkish government to build a nuclear power plant on the Black Sea coast.

In other news, Encana Corp. CA:ECA �shares declined 0.6% after the gas producer said Japanese trading company Toyota Tsusho Corp. has agreed to buy 32.5% of the company�s coal-bed methane block in Alberta. The investment value will total around C$600 million over the next seven years, Encana said.

Canada�s loonie rose against the U.S. dollarUSDCAD , with one U.S. dollar buying C$0.9921 from C$0.9948 late Thursday.