Barrick Gold Corp. and Suncor Energy Inc. may advance, based on bids on the Toronto Stock Exchange, as record crude-oil and rising bullion prices improved energy and raw- materials producers' earnings prospects.
Royal Bank of Canada may lead financial shares higher on speculation that a new $200 billion lending facility from the U.S. Federal Reserve will help ease a slump in credit market liquidity.
The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index fell 276.63, or 2.1 percent, to 13,005.09 yesterday in Toronto, dropping for a sixth time in seven days.
Oil futures advanced to a record for a fifth day, rising above $109 a barrel in New York, as the sinking U.S. dollar drew investors to commodities. Gold led precious metals higher in London on revived demand for a hedge against inflation. Copper, soybeans and wheat prices advanced. Natural gas prices fell.
Barrick Gold, the world's biggest bullion producer, may climb C$1 to C$50, bids already submitted in Toronto indicated. Teck Cominco Ltd., Canada's largest publicly traded miner of industrial metals such as copper and zinc, may gain C$1.34 to C$41.45, bids showed.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. may rise C$3.38 to C$146.25, based on bids. The largest maker of crop nutrients had its share- price target increased to $211 (C$209.27) from $175 by UBS AG's Brian MacArthur. An increase in its estimates for potash prices prompted UBS to revise its earnings forecasts for Potash, the Toronto-based analyst said in a note. UBS left its ``buy'' rating unchanged.
Suncor Energy, the second-largest oil-sands miner in the world, may rise C$2.02 to C$105.50, bids showed.
The Fed plans to lend up to $200 billion of Treasury securities in exchange for debt including private mortgage-backed securities that have slumped in value as homeowners defaulted on their payments.
Royal Bank, Canada's biggest lender, may climb C$1.10 to C$46.50, bids suggested. Rival Toronto-Dominion Bank may climb C$1.19 to C$62.75, according to bids.
U.S. stock-index futures advanced on the Fed plans. S&P 500 futures expiring in March added 27.70 to 1,303.30 at 8:48 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 221 to 12,000. Nasdaq-100 Index futures rose 30.25to 1,707.
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