The Toronto stock market remained however slightly in positive territory by Friday’s close, as investors appeared to shrug off worries about the knock-on effects from the U.S. economy going over the so-called fiscal cliff.
The S&P/TSX composite was up 5.75 points Friday – well off its highs of the day -- to wrap up a turbulent week at 12,196.80
The Canadian dollar shed 0.10 cents to 99.87 cents U.S.
The fiscal cliff label refers to a string of tax increases and steep spending cuts to the tune of $600 billion U.S. set to go into effect at the end of the year unless Democrats and Republicans can come together and arrange a deficit-cutting compromise. Failure to do so would likely tip the U.S. back into recession, and drag down other economies with it.
Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney says the fiscal cliff is the most imminent threat facing the Canadian economy.
The TSX telecom sector was positive as Telus Corp. reported its net profit rose 8% to $351 million or $1.08 per share. Overall revenue was up 5.8% to nearly $2.8 billion, up about $200 million from just over $2.6 billion in the third quarter of 2011. Overall wireless revenue was up 7% from a year ago, rising by $104 million to $1.5 billion and its shares were up 96 cents, or 1.5%, to $64.49.
Financials were also positive as Scotiabank rose 29 cents to $53.80.
The resource sectors declined while commodity prices fell, depressed by demand concerns and the higher greenback.
The energy sector was down as Suncor Energy gave back five cents to $33.26.
Copper, viewed as an economic barometer as the metal is used in so many applications, dropped five cents to $3.42 U.S. a pound and the base metals sector was off. Teck Resources dipped two cents to end the week at $32.81
But the gold sector was slightly higher as Kinross Gold Corp. advanced 16 cents to $10.32.
On the corporate front, the top executive at home improvement retailer Rona is leaving the company. The departure of Robert Dutton comes 20 years after he became Rona’s president and chief executive in 1992. It also comes just months after the company fended off a takeover by American rival Lowe’s. Rona shares ran ahead 77 cents, or 8.2%, to $10.12.
TMX Group Ltd., the owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange, has issued its first financial report since undergoing a strategic reorganization that included the acquisition of the Alpha Trading and CDS businesses and a new ownership structure led by the Maple Group.
It posted $15.3 million of net income, or 53 cents per share and $113.4 million of revenue over the two months following the reorganization. Its shares gave back 28 cents to $48.38.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 2.24 points to 1,300.92
The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and losers. Telecoms and financials led the former half-dozen, gaining 0.5% each, while energy prospered 0.2%.
The six laggards were weighed mostly by health-care, which took a 2.3% beating, while gold doffed 1.3% of its shine and materials fell back 0.9%.
The consumer discretionary and information technology groups were both flat at the end of trading.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks lost traction Friday after President Obama spoke about raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans to solve the issue of the looming fiscal cliff.
The Dow Jones Industrials surrendered earlier gains, but still finished in the green by 4.07 points to end the week at 12,815.40
The S&P 500 moved up 2.34 to 1,379.85, and the Nasdaq Composite Index strengthened 9.29 points to 2,904.87, also off its highs of the day.
The S&P 500 is currently hovering around its 200-day moving average of 1,383, a level that investors see as a line separating a bear and bull market.
Stocks had been solidly higher ahead of the president's speech, gaining support from positive economic reports. After the president spoke about the need to create jobs and impose tax hikes on the rich, those gains quickly lost momentum.
The White House also reiterated that Obama would veto any bill that extended the Bush tax cuts for the top 2% of wage earners.
It's been a rough week for investors. Stocks sold off for two straight days after Tuesday's election, as attention quickly shifted to the looming fiscal cliff, and the potential consequences for the U.S. and global economies if Congress fails to avert it.
On the corporate front, J.C. Penney reported a much larger than expected loss, sending its shares down 6%. It marked the third straight quarter of bigger than forecast losses at J.C. Penney as new CEO Ron Johnson struggles to remake the company.
After the closing bell Thursday, Disney reported earnings in line with analyst expectations but sales of the entertainment company were a bit short of forecasts.
Shares of daily deals site Groupon plunged nearly 30% Friday, a day after quarterly results missed expectations.
In other corporate news, Kayak announced late Thursday that it was being purchased by Priceline in a $1.8-billion U.S. cash-and-stock deal. Shares of Kayak shot up 26% to just below the $40 U.S. a share purchase price. Shares of Kayak competitor Expedia increased 1%, while TripAdvisor, another rival, edged slightly higher.
Shares of Lions Gate surged after the maker of the Hunger Games said the movie's sales helped lift revenue 97% for the quarter. The movie company also swung to a profit in the quarter, after recording a loss last year and said it expects to meet or beat expectations for the remainder of the year.
In economic news, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released figures on October export prices that rose 0.2% compared to 0.7% the prior month. Import prices rose 0.3% in October compared to 0.2% the prior month.
A report on consumer sentiment came in significantly better than expected. The University of Michigan's preliminary version of its consumer sentiment index for November came in at 84.9, topping forecasts of 82 and up from 82.6 last month.
Wholesale inventories for September also increased by 1.1%, beating forecasts calling for a 0.4% increase.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury regained ground, lowering the yield to 1.61%, from 1.63% late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered $1.07 at $86.16 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $5.90 an ounce to $1,731.90 U.S.
Related Stories
