Stocks squeak higher

The Toronto stock market snapped a two-session losing streak Wednesday — however narrowly -- as malaise over falling commodity prices was superseded by optimism over foreign debt problems being solved.

Traders hoped that Greece is close to arriving at a deal that will see it get a crucial second bailout to stave off bankruptcy.

The S&P TSX Composite Index ended Wednesday up 8.60 points to 12,521.02.

The Canadian dollar slipped 0.13 cents to 100.41 cents U.S.

The TSX energy sector moved into the red, while oil prices moved off early levels after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a small rise in crude inventories last week.

Canadian Natural Resources was down 65 cents to $37.87, while Talisman Energy added six cents to $12.73.

The base metals group drifted lower as the March copper contract in New York erased gains from earlier in the morning, up one cent to $3.89 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources was down 93 cents, or 2.2%, to $40.67.

The gold sector also turned negative as bullion prices lost early momentum. Goldcorp Inc. fell 65 cents to $46.93.

The financials sector provided some support with Royal Bank ahead 23 cents to $53.81 while Bank of Montreal was up 39 cents to $58.51.

Traders also took in earnings news from a variety of sectors.

WestJet said it is raising its dividend by 20% to six cents a share. The carrier also reported that profits fell 4.3% in the fourth quarter to $35.6 million. Revenue grew 12.9% to $721.5 million and WestJet shares gained 55 cents, or 4.2%, to $13.65.

Fertilizer producer Agrium Inc. said quarterly profits increased 43% to $193 million U.S. in the fourth quarter. Agrium's sales were up 32% to $3.18 billion and its shares were up $1.46 to $82.56.

TMX Group Inc. said its profits dropped 21% to $52.7 million in the fourth quarter. Revenue dropped 7% to $161.7 million from $174.1 million. TMX shares rose slipped 17 cents to $41.73.

On matters economic, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported that housing starts decreased by 1.0% in January to an annualized pace of 197,900 versus expectation of a larger drop to 194,000.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange moved forward 2.41 points to 1,665.74, while the Nasdaq Canada index dipped 0.54 points to 424.34

The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly split between gainers and losers. Industrials and health-care shared the lead role among the top dogs, each gaining 0.5%, while financials were ahead 0.3%.

Gold weighed mostly heavily on the laggards, moving lower by 0.8%, while the metals and mining group sagged 0.7% and materials slid 0.6%.

ON WALLSTREET

In New York, stocks drifted modestly higher Wednesday as investors remain focused on Greece, where the government is scrambling to secure more bailout funds and avoid a default.

The Dow Jones Industrials peeked up 5.75 points to end the day at 12,884.

The S&P 500 regained 2.38 points to 1,349.43, while the tech-rich Nasdaq reversed course and added 11.78 points to 2,915.86

Investors continued to tune in to quarterly corporate results on Wednesday.

Sprint Nextel reported a steep loss for the fourth quarter, shedding $1.3 billion U.S., or 43 cents per share, which was even worse than its year-earlier loss of $929 million U.S., or 31 cents per share. The company blamed the sales expense from its launch of the iPhone.

Time Warner beat expectations on earnings and revenue. The media company reported fourth-quarter adjusted net income of $946 million U.S., or 94 cents per share, an increase from the prior-year figure of $754 million U.S., of 65 cents per share.

Time Warner also raised its dividend by 11% and announced a four-billion-share buyback.

CVS Caremark said that its revenue jumped 11% to a record $107 billion U.S. and its adjusted earnings rose 6% to $2.80 U.S. per share.

Buffalo Wild Wings said its same-store sales jumped 9% in the fourth quarter, contributing to a 35% revenue boost, to $220 million U.S., and a 34% surge in net earnings, to $13.6 million U.S.

Western Union reported an increase in fourth-quarter revenue of 5% to $1.4 billion U.S. The 160-year-old money-sending company said that earnings rose 40 cents U.S. excluding a tax benefit, compared to 37 cents U.S. in the year-earlier quarter.

Polo Ralph Lauren reported its most recent quarterly earnings, showing a 12% surge in same-store sales and a 17% jump in revenue to $1.8 billion U.S. compared to the year-earlier quarter.

Following the market's close, daily deals site Groupon is on tap to make its first quarterly report as a public company. Dow component Cisco Systems is also slated to report in the afternoon, as are News Corp. and Visa

Late Tuesday, Yahoo announced that four long-time board members, including the chairman, are leaving the company. The departures stemmed from board discussions about "why Yahoo! was not meeting either our own expectations or those of our shareholders," wrote Chairman Roy Bostock in a letter announcing the shakeup -- including his own departure.

Also, Caesars Entertainment, a casino entertainment provider, will start trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq, after raising $16 million U.S. through an initial public offering.

Given the lack of U.S. economic data Wednesday, investors continued to monitor developments in Greece, where talks on austerity reforms have been delayed several times this week.

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is meeting with the leaders of the three political parties that make up his interim government. The officials are discussing a draft of proposed spending cuts, including layoffs and pension reforms that provide a precondition for Greece to receive more bailout money.

Greece needs to finalize the program soon to pave the way for a second bailout of €130 billion from the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank. Without these funds, Greece could miss a €14.5-billion bond redemption in March.

Finance ministers from the 17 nations that use the euro currency will meet Thursday to discuss the situation in Greece, according to a spokesman for Eurogroup president Jean-Claude Juncker.

Meanwhile, Greece is also negotiating with its creditors in the private sector over a writedown and debt exchange. There were conflicting reports on the European Central Bank's willingness to participate in a restructuring of the Greek bonds it holds.

On the economic front, the U.S. Energy Information Administration revealed that U.S. oil inventories last week rose 300,000 barrels, while an indirect measure of oil demand fell 0.5%.

Gasoline inventories grew 1.6 million barrels, while stockpiles of distillates, including heating oil and diesel, climbed 1.2 million barrels.

Treasury prices for the 10-year note slumped a bit, raising yields to 1.98% from Tuesday's 1.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil for February delivery grew 47 cents to $98.88 U.S. a barrel.

Gold futures for April delivery fell $17.10 to $1,731.30 U.S. an ounce.