The Toronto stock market resisted the negative trend of world markets early Friday, and made its way upward, even after disappointing third-quarter results from Apple Inc. cast a pall over the proceedings
The S&P/TSX composite began Friday up 24.86 points to 12,325.09
The Canadian dollar eased back 0.02 cents to 100.50 cents U.S.
The day after the index triumphed 105 points, amid strong reports from gold producers Goldcorp Inc. and Agnico-Eagle Mines and energy whiz Nexen Inc., the TSX confounded some of the experts and made small gains.
Meantime, Goldcorp began the day up a nickel to $43.65, while Agnico dropped 44 cents to $55.53, and Nexen shaved off a penny to $23.69
On Thursday after the close, financial services company Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. reported that its third-quarter profits plummeted more than 96% to $34.6 million or 90 cents a share as it faced losses on its equity hedges. Fairfax traded Friday at $365.73, down $4.04, or 1.1%, lower than Thursday’s close.
Traders will take in earnings during the day from power generator TransAlta Corp. and gold miner Eldorado Gold Corp.
TransAlta progressed eight cents to $15.30, while Eldorado Gold was unchanged shortly after the open at $14.04.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange subsided 3.19 points to 1,302.35
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher at the outset. Consumer staples and health-care gained 0.5% each, while utilities were 0.4% stronger.
The four laggards were weighed mostly by global base metals, off 0.3%, while metals and mining and information technology slid 0.2% each.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were unchanged early Friday, as investors welcomed a stronger-than-expected report on U.S. economic growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 13.80 points to begin Friday at 13,089.90
The S&P 500 index gained 0.19 points to 1,413.16, while the Nasdaq fell back 1.82 points to 2,984.30
Apple, one of the most widely held stocks in the S&P 500, reported quarterly results that missed expectations, despite predictions for a
strong fourth quarter. Additionally, Amazon reported a narrower-than-expected loss but missed on sales.
As quarterly results continue to roll in, investors have been sidelined by weaker-than-expected sales growth and tepid guidance for the current quarter. In addition, traders have become risk-averse ahead of the U.S. presidential election while concerns about the fiscal cliff continue to weigh on the market.
Merck reported third-quarter earnings that beat analysts' expectations, but a decline in sales worldwide sent shares lower.
Comcast said earnings jumped 136% in the third quarter from the same period last year, helped by coverage of the 2012 Olympic Games. Shares of Comcast rose more than 2%.
Shares of Expedia rallied 14%, after the travel website reported strong quarterly earnings late Thursday.
Deckers Outdoor tumbled more than 15% after the maker of Ugg boots and Teva sandals slashed its outlook for the remainder of the year.
On the economic beat, U.S. Gross Domestic Product, the broadest measure of economic activity, rose at a 2% annual rate in the third quarter, according to government data. The figure was higher than the 1.7% rate economists had forecast and came after GDP grew
Later in the morning, the University of Michigan will release the final version of its consumer sentiment index for October.
The price of the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury jumped, lowering the yield to 1.78% from Thursday’s 1.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices were positive by 25 cents to $86.13 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $3.50 per ounce to $1,716.50 U.S.
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