Top headlines

10:00 a.m.

Markets are open: Stocks bounce back

Stocks are bouncing back this morning on solid earnings from some of the largest U.S. banks.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. posted another quarter of record net interest income and boosted its forecast for the year. Wells Fargo & Co. beat analysts’ expectations for net interest income and raised its guidance. Citigroup Inc. rates and currencies traders posted their best third quarter in at least eight years.

The TSX was up almost 130 points.

Bloomberg and Financial Post

9:48 a.m.

Supreme Court majority rules against Ottawa’s environmental law

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled against the federal government’s impact assessment law.

In a decision released this Friday morning, five out of seven judges found most of the Impact Assessment Act to be unconstitutional because it ultimately seeks to regulate activities within provincial jurisdiction.

Chief Justice Richard Wagner, writing for the majority, said federal powers don’t cover the list of projects subject to federal review under the act.

Wagner wrote the impacts of those projects must be within federal jurisdiction for an act to be constitutional.

In his 204-page judgment, he wrote the government failed to make that case.

Two judges, however, dissented, saying the law was constitutional.

The Impact Assessment Act, which was known in Parliament as Bill C-69, is now the second such piece of legislation to be thrown out by the courts.

In 2016, the Federal Court of Appeal struck down assessment legislation passed by the Conservative government of Stephen Harper.

More to come.

9:27 a.m.

Aimia to raise up to $32.5 million, names new directors and board chair

Aimia Inc. signed a deal to raise up to $32.5 million in a private placement of shares and warrants that will be used to fund operations and support its strategic investment plans.

Under the private placement announced before markets opened Friday, Aimia says it will issue up to 10,475,000 shares together with up to 10,475,000 share purchase warrants. Each share and accompanying warrant will be issued at $3.10 and each warrant will be exercisable at $3.70 per share.

Shares in Aimia, which sold its flagship Aeroplan loyalty program to Air Canada in 2019 and reinvented itself as an investment holding company, closed up seven cents at $3.52 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday.

The company says that assuming the private placement is fully subscribed and all the warrants are exercised, the maximum number of shares issuable under the private placement represents 24.89 per cent of its currently issued and outstanding shares on an undiluted basis.

In connection with and subject to the closing of the private placement, Aimia says it will appoint Thomas Finke and Yannis Skoufalos as independent directors. Finke will also be named chair of its board.

The Canadian Press

9:16 a.m.

JPMorgan posts another record, boosts guidance

Net interest income was US$22.9 billion in the three months through Sept. 30, above analysts’ expectations. The biggest U.S. bank said it now expects to generate US$88.5 billion from the revenue source this year.

“We acknowledge that these results benefit from our over-earning on both net interest income and below normal credit costs, both of which will normalize over time.,” chief executive Jamie Dimon said in a statement. Dimon warned that the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East could have far-reaching consequences. “This may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades,” he said.

JPMorgan’s results mirror similar gains at Wells Fargo & Co., which reported Friday that net interest income — the difference between what a bank earns on loans and the amount it pays out on deposits — also topped estimates. The third-quarter reports offer the latest look at how U.S. consumers and businesses are faring as the United States Federal Reserve leaves borrowing costs higher for longer than most economists had predicted.

Bloomberg

7:30 a.m.

Canadian pension funds mull selling stake in Chile’s Transelec

CPPIB, British Columbia Investment Management Corp. and Public Sector Pension Investment Board are in the early stages of evaluating a potential sale of their roughly 72 per cent stake in the Santiago-based utility, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.

Bloomberg

Stock markets: Before the opening bell

Treasuries rallied as investors turned to havens on signs Israel is preparing for a ground invasion of Gaza.

U.S. futures edged lower, auguring more losses after a retreat Thursday driven by rising bond yields.

What to watch today