TORONTO - Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (12,003.78 up 89.92 points):
Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Insurance. Up 66 cents, or 5.56 per cent, at $12.53 on 14,186,394 shares. The financial sector was ahead 1.27 per cent.
Kinross Gold Corp. (TSX:K). Miner. Down 44 cents, or 2.44 per cent, at $17.59 on 7,476,716 shares. The gold sector was a major decliner as the December contract in New York fell $2.20 to US$1,248.10 an ounce.
Western Coal Corp. (TSX:WTN). Miner. Up 35 cents, or 8.75 per cent, at $4.35 on 7,204,490 shares.
Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Transportation equipment. Up 16 cents, or 3.60 per cent, at $4.60 on 6,638,808 shares. The Montreal-based airplane and railway equipment manufacturer saw its shares rise despite reporting second-quarter profits dropped 30 per cent to US$148 million as a result of sluggish sales.
Equinox Minerals Limited (TSX:EQN). Miner. Up 51 cents, or 10.71 per cent, at $5.27 on 6,370,611 shares. The base metals sector was the biggest advancer, rising 5.77 per cent as the December copper contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange moved up 11 cents to US$3.48 a pound.
Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Up $1.40, or 4.39 per cent, at $33.730 on 5,596,520 shares. The TSX energy sector advanced 1.92 per cent as oil prices picked up after two days of sharp declines following the release of positive manufacturing data in the United States and China.
TSX Venture Exchange (1,517.63 up 18 points):
Alange Energy Corp. (TSXV:ALE). Oil and gas. Up 1.5 cents, or four per cent, at 39 cents on 15,757,356 shares. The company confirmed that financing was in place for the balance of its 2010 capital spending plan.
Gran Colombia Gold Corp. (TSXV:GCM). Miner. Up one cent, or 3.03 per cent, at 34 cents on 6,843,714 shares.
Companies reporting major news:
Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX:ATD.B). Convenience stores. Up 91 cents, or 3.98 per cent, at $23.80 on 1,540,202 shares. The second-largest convenience store retailer in North America raised its hostile takeover bid for Iowa-based Casey's General Stores by 50 cents to US$38.50 per share cash.
Fortress Energy Inc. (TSX:FEI). Oil and gas. Down 1.5 cents, or 12 per cent, at 11 cents on 3,881,008 shares. The company said it had closed the previously announced sale of substantially all of its oil and gas assets to Terra Energy Corp. (TSX:TT) for just under $26 million in cash and almost 3.7 million Terra shares. Terra stock was up a penny, or 0.76 per cent, at $1.33 on 32,500 shares.
Husky Energy Inc. (TSX:HSE). Energy. Up 30 cents, or 1.21 per cent, at $25.14 on 1,190,041 shares. The Calgary-based company is buying natural gas properties in west-central Alberta from Talisman Energy Inc. (TSX:TLM) in a deal one analyst estimated could be worth up to half a billion dollars, doubling its operations in the region as it focuses on boosting near-term production growth. Talisman shares were up 36 cents, or 2.15 per cent, at $17.130 on 3,468,296 shares.