TSX looks set to open little changed, BlackBerry surprises with Q4 profit

TORONTO – The Toronto stock market is expected to open the last session of a shortened trading week with little change

Tech giant BlackBerry (TSX:BB) (NASDAQ:BBRY) will be in focus as the smartphone maker surprised investors with a fourth quarter profit in the wake of the rollout of its new touchscreen Z10 product line.

Instead of an expected loss, the company posted a profit of US$98 million or 19 cents per share for latest quarter compared with a loss of $125 million or 24 cents per share a year ago. However, the company’s subscriber base fell to about 76 million from 79 million in the previous quarter, a sign that more people ditched their older BlackBerry models.<

The company says it shipped about one million smartphones on its new BlackBerry 10 operating system in the quarter. The report had initially been applauded by investors, who sent the shares up about nine per cent at one point in pre-market trading in New York. The shares later slipped 0.5 per cent.

Traders looked to Cyprus as the tiny Mediterranean country’s banks reopened after a near two-week shutdown while the country negotiated a bailout agreement with international creditors that will see many large depositors lose a big chunk of their money.

The mood was generally calm despite some long queues at certain branches. Cyprus has imposed capital controls to prevent a run on the banks, the first time such measures have been taken since the euro was established in 1999.

The Canadian dollar was little changed, up 0.02 of a cent to 98.4 cents US ahead of data coming out during the morning on how the economy performed during January. Economists expected real gross domestic product to have increased by 0.1 per cent following a 0.2 per cent dip during December.

U.S. futures were ahead of data showing the final revision to fourth quarter GDP and jobless insurance claims for last week.

The Dow Jones industrial futures gained 23 points to 14,468, the Nasdaq futures were up 6.8 points to 2,807.8 while the S&P 500 futures added 1.25 points to 1,558.

Markets looked set to end the week with minor gains after the Cyprus bailout agreement was clinched in the early hours of Monday morning. Early relief gave way to concern that the Cyprus bailout agreement may be a model for the future.

Uncertainty over the political future of Italy is also putting pressure on the euro. Following inconclusive elections around a month ago, the country is still without a government, and that’s raised concerns over the future economic path. Italy is the third-largest economy of the 17 countries that use the euro.

Commodity prices were mixed as May crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange added eight cents to US$96.66 a barrel.

June gold dipped $5.70 to US$1,601.50 an ounce while May copper gained a penny to US$3.45 a pound.

In other corporate news, Suncor Energy (TSX:SU) announced Wednesday it was not going ahead with its troubled Voyageur oilsands upgrader project, citing market conditions which have changed significantly, challenging the economics of the project. Suncor took a $1.49-billion writedown on Voyageur in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The company said it will take a charge to its first quarter net income and cash flow from operations of approximately $140 million and $180 million respectively as a result of the decision.

Mood Media Corp. (TSX:MM) says its fourth-quarter revenue was up 51 per cent year-to-year as a result of acquisitions, growth in equipment sales and improved recurring revenue, but its loss almost quadrupled to $27.1 million. The overall loss included $13.2 million from its discontinued operations. The Toronto-based company, which creates in-store visual, audio and scent systems to enhance the retail environment, said it’s taking actions to improve its results.

European bourses advanced as London’s FTSE 100 index gained 0.92 per cent, Frankfurt’s DAX was up 0.64 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 climbed 0.73 per cent.

Earlier in Asia, trading was affected by worries over policy tightening in China, the world’s second-largest economy. The Shanghai composite index ended 2.8 per cent lower with banking stocks leading the retreat.

That had a knock-on effect elsewhere in the region. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index tumbled 1.3 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.7 per cent.