The Toronto stock market was lower Thursday, adding to steep losses of the previous session as further weak employment data raised worries about slowing U.S. economic conditions.
The S&P/TSX index dropped 57.65 points to greet noon Thursday at 12,364.47
A pair of soft economic reports and growing geopolitical risks sent the main index tumbling 260 points on Wednesday, erasing TSX gains for the year.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.03 at 98.60 cents U.S.
The energy sector declined, as Cenovus Energy gave back 46 cents to $30.44 while Suncor Energy dropped 60 cents to $29.57.
Oil plunged after the U.S. Energy Department said crude oil supplies grew by 2.7 million barrels to 388.6 million barrels in the week ended March 29. The U.S. supply of oil is now 7.2% above year-earlier levels and the highest since July 27, 1990.
Financials were also a major weight, as Royal Bank shed 56 cents to $60.78 and Manulife Financial gave back 17 cents to $14.41.
Miners were in positive territory after leading the TSX lower Wednesday.
The gold sector was up after sliding almost 5% on Wednesday. The gold sector has declined 24% year-to-date as precious metal miners deal with prices that haven’t kept pace with increasing operating costs.
Goldcorp Inc. gained 26 cents to $31.90.
The base metals group was up while May copper shed early losses to gain two cents at $3.35 U.S. a pound following a five-cent slide. First Quantum Minerals gained 72 cents to $18.68.
Techs were also supportive as MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates ran ahead 69 cents to $68.24.
On the corporate front, Lululemon Athletica Inc. shares gained 63 cents to $65.89 after it said Wednesday that its chief product officer is leaving the retailer, just weeks after it pulled its black Luon pants from store shelves because they were too sheer. Specific reasons for Sheree Waterson’s departure were not disclosed.
Meanwhile, RBC Capital Markets has cut its rating on Lululemon to “sector perform” from “outperform” and cut his target price on the stock to $70 from $80. He said Waterson was instrumental in the design process at the company for the last five years and was a strong creative leader.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange demurred 18.19 points to 1,025.65
In all, eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were still higher at noon, with metals and mining stocks up 1.2%, gold, up 1%, and materials gained 0.9%.
The six laggards were weighed mostly by energy, trailing Wednesday’s close by 1.5%, financials, down 1%, and industrials, off 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
A mixed bag of news from central banks around the globe prompted investors to tap on the brakes Thursday.
The Dow Jones Industrials picked up 5.53 points to 14,555.90
The S&P 500 index added 1.83 points to 1,555.52. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite dipped 9.05 points to 3,209.55.
Shares of Best Buy surged after the retailer announced that it will feature booths selling Samsung products at more than 1,400 U.S. stores.
Lululemon Athletic said its chief product officer, Sheree Waterson, was leaving, effective April 15. The announcement comes after Lululemon issued a recall last month of unintentionally see-through yoga pants.
Shares of Carnival Corp. slumped more than 2%, a day after the troubled cruise liner's Triumph broke free of its dock in Mobile, Ala.
Investors will also be monitoring an Android-related press event hosted by Facebook and scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET. Industry watchers have speculated that the social network could reveal its own Android-based smartphone.
Among central banks, first out of the gate was Japan's central bank, which announced plans to expand its stimulus program in an effort to breathe life into the country's flagging economy.
The news was welcomed by investors. Japan's Nikkei reversed early losses and closed 2.2% higher, the yen weakened against the dollar and the yield on Japanese 10-year notes fell to their lowest level since 2003.
Then, the Bank of England left rates at 0.5% and maintained its asset purchasing program. And finally, the European Central Bank also kept rates steady at 0.75%.
ECB President Mario Draghi's comments were seen as leaving the door open to further stimulus but investors were disappointed that the ECB didn't do more in the face of weakening economic trends in the euro-zone.
On the economic slate, the U.S. Labor Department said that initial jobless claims rose to 385,000 last week. That's more than the 345,000 analysts had expected and comes one day ahead of the government's closely watched monthly jobs report. Economists expect 192,000 jobs to have been added in March, according to Briefing.com.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, lowering yields to 1.77% from Wednesday’s 1.81%. Treasury prices yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell $1.76 to $92.49 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $18.70 to $1,546.60 U.S. an ounce.
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