The Toronto stock market was down for a second day Friday, amid less than stellar earnings reports and worrisome economic news from overseas.
The S&P/TSX composite index lost 26.22 points to close the day and the week at 15,360.55
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.27 cents to 81.78 cents U.S.
Among metals and mining stocks – some of the hardest hit – Capstone Mining faltered four cents, or 3%, to $1.31, while First Quantum Minerals ducked back 43 cents, or 2.7%, to $15.57.
Information technology stocks also did not fare well, as Sierra Wireless tumbled $1.98, or 4.2%, to $45.57, and DragonWave erased three cents, or 3.2%, to 90 cents.
Consumer staples stocks were also roughed up, as Jean Coutu Group fell $1.99, or 7.2%, to $25.58, and Cott Corporation slid 25 cents, or 2.2%, to $11.26.
Real-estate issues tried to even things out, as units of Calloway REIT surged $1.04, or 3.6%, to $30.20.
Gold stocks also did their part, with Rubicon Minerals added five cents, or 3.85, to $1.37, and Alamos Gold moved higher 28 cents, or 3.6%, to $8.10.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that the consumer price index gained 0.4% for March, after a 0.2% hike in February.
Retail trade rose 1.7% in February to $42.2 billion, as gains were widespread as all 11 retail sub-sectors reported higher sales.
Moreover, the agency said, foreign investment in Canadian securities strengthened to $9.3 billion in February, mostly foreign purchases of federal government bonds.
Meanwhile, investors here resumed their investment in foreign securities by adding $9.4 billion to their holdings, mainly U.S. instruments.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell back into negative grounds 2.74 points to 702.85
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower on the day, with the metals and mining and information technology groups each skidding 1.3%, while consumer staples were 1.2% to the bad.
The four gainers were led by real-estate, headed higher 0.6%, gold, surging 0.4%, and energy, better by 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded sharply lower on Friday, following a global decline in equities on renewed Greece concerns and new Chinese trading regulations.
The Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 279.47 points, or 1.5%, to 17,826.30, having dipped more than 350 points before coming off lows and attempting to hold gains for the year, with American Express and 3M among the greatest decliners.
The S&P 500 index dropped 23.59 points, or 1.1%, to 2,081.40
The NASDAQ index plummeted 75.07 points, or 1.5%, to 4,932.72. The major averages had their worst day since March.
General Electric reported adjusted quarter profit of 31 cents U.S. per share, one cent above estimates. Revenue was below forecasts, due in part to a $950-million U.S. negative impact from currency effects.
Honeywell beat estimates by two cents with quarterly profit of $1.41 U.S. per share, though revenue fell slightly below analyst forecasts. The company gave a cautious sales outlook, but said expanding profit margins should boost the bottom line.
After the bell on Thursday, American Express reported earnings above estimates. However, revenue missed expectations due to a strong dollar and the end of several co-branding relationships.
Futures held lower but above morning lows after the consumer price index showed an increase of 0.2% in March, below expectations of 0.3%.
However, the figure marked the second-straight month of gains and matched February's 0.2% gain. Core CPI, excluding food and energy, came in slightly above expectations at 0.2%, the same level as in February.
U.S. consumer sentiment rose more than expected in April, a survey released on Friday showed.
Major European stock indices were down about 1% or more, following a selloff in Chinese futures over news of coming government regulation to expand short-selling and limit over-the-counter margin trading.
Focus for European markets has been on Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis' visit to meet International Monetary Fund officials, as investors become increasingly nervous about the funding crisis in Greece.
Trading was affected in Europe and Asia Friday morning by an outage on Bloomberg's trading terminal, resulting in a treasury auction in the U.K. being postponed. By 11 a.m. ET, the company said that service was fully restored.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained some ground, lowering yields to 1.87% from Thursday’s 1.89%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices docked 64 cents to $56.07 U.S.
Gold prices moved up $5.80 to $1,203.80 U.S.
