Toronto’s stock market endured a lower open on Friday, as investors digested a spate of U.S. economic data, though gains could be capped by worries over the Federal Reserve's stimulus program.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 22.12 points, to begin Friday at 12,255.01
The Canadian dollar forged ahead 0.15 cents to 98.62 cents U.S.
National Bank Financial cut the price target on Agrium Inc. to $84.50 from $87 on valuation, saying DuPont's decision to lower its earnings guidance following planting delays on crop input demand will have negative implications for the company. Agrium shares fell back 48 cents to $90.97.
CIBC raised the price target on Transat AT Inc. to $6.50 from $5.25, saying the company is guiding towards summer results being better year-over-year and is having good early success in its product differentiation rollout and its cost-cutting strategy. Transat shares began Friday unchanged from yesterday’s close of $6.02.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported manufacturing sales fell 2.4% in April to $48.2 billion — the fourth decline in five months and the largest monthly percentage drop since August 2009.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 3.5 points to 933.56
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher at the outset, led by real-estate, up 0.6%, utilities, up 0.4% and consumer staples, ahead 0.3%.
The five laggards were weighed by telecoms, down 0.5%, financials, off 0.3%, and materials, sliding 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks drifted higher early Friday as a week of volatile trading draws to a close.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 4.51 points to 15,171.60
The S&P 500 index took on 1.84 points to 1,638.20. The tech-rich NASDAQ Composite moved lower 3.93 points to 3,441.93
In corporate news, Smithfield Foods said earnings fell 69% to $29.7 million U.S., or 21 cents per share, in the quarter ended April 28.
The meat producer blamed high grain prices due to last year's drought, which pushed up the cost of hog production. Smithfield announced last month that it was being bought by Chinese meat producer Shuanghui International.
Shares of Restoration Hardware jumped after the retailer reported results that easily beat forecasts. Shares of the company have been red hot since the retailer went public in November.
Smith & Wesson shares rose after the gun maker released preliminary results showing record quarterly and full-year sales and earnings.
Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded SolarCity, sending shares of the Elon Musk-backed alternative energy company higher.
The choppy trading comes as investors readjust their expectations for the U.S. Federal Reserve, which could begin to slow the pace of its bond buying program later this year. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke has said repeatedly that any decision to curtail monetary stimulus will depend on how the economy performs.
The Fed has a policy meeting next week and Bernanke will speak at a press conference Wednesday.
Economically speaking, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said producer prices increased 0.5% in May, driven largely by food and energy prices. The measure of prices for unfinished goods, excluding food and energy, fell 0.4%.
The University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters said the initial reading of the June consumer sentiment index fell to 82.7 from 84.5 in May, when the index hit its highest level in nearly six years.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, lowering yields to 2.11% from Thursday’s 2.17%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices jumped $1.29 to $97.98 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices strengthened $12.80 to $1,390.60 U.S. an ounce
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