North American stocks rose slightly at the start of trading on Wednesday, with little economic news or significant progress in Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 4 points, to 12,883. The broader S&P 500 rose 2 points or 0.1 per cent, to 1,349. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index rose 32 points or 0.3 per cent, to 12,544.
Agrium Inc. AGU-T rose 2.3 per cent after the fertilizer producer reported a 43 per cent gain in its quarterly earnings. TMX Group Inc. X-T, which is in the middle of a takeover battle, was unchanged after reporting a 21 per cent slide in its quarter earnings.
Among U.S. stocks, Bank of America Corp. rose 1.3 per cent and JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose 0.8 per cent. American Express Co. fell 0.8 per cent and Exxon Mobil Corp. fell 0.6 per cent.
McDonald’s Corp. was unchanged after reporting that sales at stores open for at least a year rose 6.7 per cent globally in January, topping analysts’ forecasts.
Computer Sciences Corp. rose 20.3 per cent and Ralph Lauren Corp. rose 12 per cent after reporting their respective quarterly results. In the case of Ralph Lauren, sales rose 17 per cent over last year.
