Canadian equities faded toward the breakeven point by the close Wednesday, as strength wilted on Toronto’s benchmark stock index.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended Wednesday ahead but 0.57 points to 11,497.87
The Canadian dollar slid 0.32 of a cent to 97.14 cents U.S.
Gold miners continued to gain momentum following the previous session’s close, with shares of Franco Nevada Corp. up 1.5% to $48.15. First Quantum Minerals Ltd.’s stock was among top percentage gainers, up 5.9% to $18.54
In Toronto, the energy sector faded as Suncor lost 0.6% to $28.79, and Imperial Oil picked up 0.3% to $42.41
On the earnings front, discount retailer Dollarama Inc. said its first-quarter profit rose 40% to $42.6 million or 56 cents a share, which beat estimates by six cents.
The Montreal-based company’s revenue for the 13 weeks ended April 29 was just under $398 million, up 15% from the comparable period last year and its shares ran ahead $3.68, or 6.8%, to $60.73.
Elsewhere, oil and gas producer Enerplus Corp. cut its dividend in half on Tuesday to a monthly payment to shareholders of nine cents per share from 18 cents amid weaker oil and natural gas prices. Its shares gave back 51 cents to $13.01.
Shares in paper maker Domtar Corp. dropped $1.49, or 1.8%, to $80.89 as it announced it is selling its hydroelectric assets in the Ottawa and Gatineau, Que.,-area for $45 million. The buyer is Energy Ottawa Inc., the renewable energy subsidiary of Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc.
No major Canadian economic data was released today.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange doffed 25.82 points to 1,243.88. The Nasdaq Canada index stepped back three points to 365.87
The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly divided between winners and losers. The former group was led by metals and mining, up 1.9%, while financials forged ahead 0.5%, and consumer staples took on 0.4%.
The laggards were led by energy stocks, off 1.3%, telecoms faded 0.9% and industrials fell 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks sold off in the final hour of trading Wednesday on concerns about the debt crisis in Europe and falling oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrials surrendered 77.42 points to 12,496.40
The S&P 500 was 9.47 points to the bad, at 1,314.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index jettisoned 24.46 points to 2,818.61
Stocks opened lower after reports showed that retail sales remained weak in May and producer prices fell sharply. But the market recovered following a better-than-expected report on U.S. business inventories.
The selling picked up steam near the end of the day as oil prices gave up earlier gains, ending the day down 0.8%.
Earlier in the day, investors were focused on Capitol Hill, where JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon told lawmakers that he could not defend the trades that led to the bank's multi-billion-dollar loss.
Dimon blamed the loss on insufficient risk controls and a failure by traders to understand the bets they were placing. But he refused to say that JPMorgan was using trades from its chief investment office to make money.
JPMorgan shares rose 1.4%.
Despite the immediate concerns, many investors expect stocks to move higher later in the year. There is widespread speculation that the Federal Reserve will take additional steps to support the economy if conditions continue to deteriorate.
Computer maker Dell said Tuesday that it will start paying dividends to shareholders later this year, boosting its stock by 4.5%.
Philip Morris International announced an $18-billion U.S. share repurchase plan Wednesday. Shares of the company, which was spun off from domestic tobacco company Altria Group in 2008, are up 8% year-to-date.
Shares of Dow component Johnson & Johnson were up 2.4%. The company disclosed after the close Tuesday that it will be able to complete its purchase of Swiss medical device maker Synthes on Thursday, much sooner than expected.
It also said the deal will add three to five cents U.S. a share to its earnings this year, rather than shave 22 cents U.S. a share off its profits as it previously forecast.
Uncertainty in Europe also weighed on trading Wednesday morning. Investors will continue to watch Spain's troubled banks, whose exposure to bad real estate loans has led Fitch to downgrade 20 of them in the last two days.
Economically speaking, business inventories rose 0.4% in April, which was slightly better than expected.
Elsewhere, the Producer Price Index, which measures changes in wholesale prices, dropped 1% in May. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected a decline of 0.7%.
The government's estimates on retail sales for May showed a decline of 0.2%. This was close to expectations from economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury advanced, lowering yields to 1.60% from Tuesday’s 1.66%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil fell 98 cents to $82.34 U.S.
Gold futures for August delivery rose $7.70 to $1,621.50 U.S. an ounce.
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