Toronto's main stock index took an early Thursday tumble as weak purchasing managers’ index data from China and Europe raised global growth concerns.
The S&P/TSX composite index began the morning down 40.49 points at 12,395.67
The Canadian dollar fell 0.55 cents to 102.05 cents U.S.
Nexen Inc should have an easy time getting its shareholders to approve the $15.1-billion takeover of the Canadian oil and gas producer by China's CNOOC Ltd.
Goldcorp is considering teaming up with Mexico's Fresnillo to develop a new precious metals venture in the central Mexican state of Zacatecas.
Other Canadian stocks to watch this morning included Yellow Media Inc. The company said the Quebec Supreme Court suspended all its debt-related obligations starting from Sept. 30, as it readies to consider the company's recapitalization plan next month.
Speaking of things economic, Statistics Canada told us this morning that there weren’t any more of us on the pogey in July than in June. A total of 508,000 people received regular Employment Insurance benefits that month, virtually unchanged from the previous month. Compared with July 2011, the number of beneficiaries fell by 34,900 or 6.4%.
The agency also said that the number of beneficiaries increased in Alberta and Ontario, while it fell in Prince Edward Island and Quebec.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange subtracted 6.41 points to 1,337.11
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower in early morning trade. Metals and mining dove 2.4%, while global base metals erased 2% of their gains and industrials slid 1.6%.
The three gainers were health-care, 0.4% more robust, telecoms, up 0.3%, and consumer staples, advancing 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks endured a lower open Thursday, as disappointing reports in Asia and Europe showed that business everywhere continues to stall.
The Dow Jones Industrial average opened lower by 50.02 points Thursday to 13,527.90
The S&P 500 index lost 8.57 points, to 1,452.48, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index shaved off 19.25 points to 3,163.38
ConAgra Foods shares shot up more than 6% in pre-market trading after the food processing company beat expectations by reporting earnings of 44 cents U.S. per share.
Shares of the nation's largest car retailer, CarMax, rose more than 3% even though its earnings per share of 48 cents U.S. fell below estimates. The car seller reported stronger sales of used vehicles and plans to double the rate of store openings next year.
Rite Aid shares also rose more than 1% after the drugstore chain's reported loss of five cents U.S. per share came in smaller than anticipated.
Investment bank Jefferies is also due to report its quarterly results before Thursday's open.
Business software maker Oracle reports after the closing bell. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Oracle to report earnings of 53 cents U.S. a share on $8.4 billion U.S. in revenue.
Shares of railroad operator Norfolk Southern sank in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company lowered its third-quarter guidance. Fellow rail transport firms CSX, Union Pacific and Kansas City Southern also fell on the news.
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond dropped in after-hours trading Wednesday after the retailer missed earnings estimates.
On the economic slate, U.S. investors began Thursday with data on first-time unemployment benefit claims, which came in at 382,000 for the week that ended Sept. 15. Although the U.S. Labor Department figure is down 3,000 from the previous week, it's still not low enough to ease worries about continued high unemployment.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 1.74% from 1.78% late Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices slid another 29 cents a barrel to $91.69 U.S.
Gold prices tumbled $7.20 an ounce to $1,764.50 U.S.
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