Canadian Stocks Rise, Led By Miners

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks posted modest gains Wednesday, with markets in a fairly chipper mood despite continued concerns over Greece.

Led by mining and bank stocks, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 49.94 points at 15,154.68.

The Diversified Metal and Mining Index jumped 1.6 percent, while the Financial Index added 1 percent.

Laurentian Bank of Canada (LB.TO) rose 2.3 percent. The company reported second quarter adjusted EPS of C$1.38, compared to C$1.29 last year.

Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) gained 2.3 percent, after it announced a collaboration with PSA Peugeot Citroën.

After big gains from Air Canada earlier in the week, WestJet Airlines (WJA.TO) added 0.5 percent. The company reported a 6.6 percent increase in May traffic, capacity was up 9.1 percent, while load factor declined 1.8 percentage points.

The Energy Index decreased 1 percent. Crude oil prices turned lower.

Canaccord Genuity (CF.TO) jumped 4.5 percent. The company reported fourth quarter adjusted EPS of C$0.05, which topped the consensus estimate of C$0.03.

On the economic front, the Canadian trade deficit narrowed to C$2.97 billion this morning, from the revised C$3.85 billion deficit in March, according to a report from Statistics Canada. Economists had been expecting a deficit of C$2.15 billion.

The European Central Bank on Wednesday left its key interest rates unchanged at a record low for a seventh consecutive session amid expectations that Greece and creditors will reach a deal later in the day, providing some relief from days of uncertainty.

Eurozone retail sales recovered at a faster than expected pace in April, Eurostat reported Wednesday. The volume of retail sales increased 0.7 percent month-on-month in April reversing a 0.6 percent fall in March. Sales were expected to grow by 0.6 percent.

The euro area jobless rate dropped as expected to the lowest level in more than three years in April, data from Eurostat revealed Wednesday. The unemployment rate came in at 11.1 percent in April compared to revised 11.2 percent in March. This was the lowest rate since February 2012, when it was 10.9 percent. The rate came in line with expectations.

Eurozone private sector growth slowed less than estimated in May, final data from Markit showed Wednesday. The final composite output index fell to 53.6 in May from 53.9 in April. But it was above the flash score of 53.4.