Hal Kvisle, president and CEO of Talisman Energy, speaks at the Global Business Forum in Banff, Alta., Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
The Toronto stock market was positive at the open amid disappointing earnings news from the oil sector but rising commodity prices.
The S&P/TSX composite index advanced 20.26 points to 12,809.28 while the Canadian dollar was down 0.05 of a cent to 99.68 cents US.
U.S. indexes were mixed amid data that showed that January retail sales met expectations, rising 0.1 per cent.
The Dow Jones industrials was down 10.14 points to 14,008.56, while the Nasdaq was 6.78 points higher at 3,193.27 and the S&P 500 index gained 1.8 points to 1,521.23.
Talisman Energy Inc. recorded $367-million (U.S.) or 37 cents per share in quarterly net income, beating forecasts of 16 cents a share. But the gain was mainly due to disposal of some assets and the company continued to feel the effects of low natural gas prices. Talisman posted revenue of $1.6-billion, which was $300-million less than expected and its shares declined 26 cents or 2.07 per cent to $12.30.
Oil rose 29 cents to $97.80 a barrel amid data showing that U.S. inventories fell last week.
European shares extended gains in afternoon trade on Wednesday, bolstered by Wall Street's open and with Britain's FTSE 100 getting a technical push up after breaking above its 2013 highs.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was up 0.5 per cent at 1,167.22 points.
Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.6 percent at 6,373.71 points, testing levels not seen since early 2008 and breaking above the previous peak of 6,354.46 set at the end of January.
With a file from Reuters
Inside the Market editor Darcy Keith is away and will return next week.