The Toronto stock market was little changed Friday following a strong advance the previous session as traders took a wait-and-see attitude on where negotiations go on extending the U.S. debt limit.
The S&P/TSX composite index faltered 10.96 points to greet noon at 12,883.45
The Canadian dollar gained 0.15 cents to 96.32 cents U.S.
Financials led TSX advancers with Sun Life Financial ahead 36 cents at $33.69.
The energy sector rose as Imperial Oil advanced 43 cents to $45.08.
Moody's Investor Services has cut Talisman Energy's rating outlook to negative from stable. Moody's said the downgrade reflects the uncertain outcome of the portfolio transformation taking place under the company's strategic repositioning.
The change in outlook comes just days after activist investor Carl Icahn disclosed a 6% stake in the company and Talisman shares gained 15 cents to $12.88.
The gold sector was down as Barrick Gold dropped 59 cents to $17.95.
Base metal stocks also pressured the TSX as December copper lost one cent to $3.24 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources shed 37 cents to $26.36.
In corporate news, fertilizer giant Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. is reducing its earnings guidance for the third quarter to reflect lower sales.
The company says earnings per diluted share now are expected to come in at about 41 cents, down from the 45 to 60 cents per share it predicted back in July. Potash shares lost 42 cents to $32.55 on the TSX.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada announced the job picture was little changed in September, with the jobless rate lowering two-10ths of a percentage point to 6.9%.
The agency says job creation slowed to 11,900 in September from 59,200 in August as 21,400 workers aged 15 to 24 left the labour force. Market call was for a hike of 10,000 jobs, and an unemployment rate of 7.1%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 5.43 to 930.09
The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and losers, utilities leading the former group by gaining 0.7%, while information technology and energy stocks each took on 0.4%.
The seven laggards were weighed most by gold, off 2.7%, materials, sagging 1.8%, and health-care, down by 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
After one of the biggest rallies of the year, stocks were up just slightly Friday as investors wait for further progress in Washington on resolving the debt ceiling standoff.
The Dow gained 80.54 points, to pause for noon at 15,206.60
The S&P 500 index added 5.86 points to 1,698.42. The NASDAQ was up 23.53 points to 3,784.30
The small gains came a day after a surge of optimism that sent the Dow up more than 320 points, its biggest point gain since December 2011. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ delivered their second best advances of the year.
Thanks to the big rally, the Dow and S&P 500 are on track to end the week higher for the first time in three weeks. Both indexes are now above the level they were at before the shutdown began at the start of the month.
But the NASDAQ is on pace for a modest decline, its first down week since August. Some of the best-performing tech stocks of the year, such as Netflix and Facebook, fell sharply this week.
In addition to the debt ceiling talks, the first of the big banks started reporting quarterly results.
JPMorgan posted a quarterly loss due to costs of legal actions from the government. It was the company's first since Jamie Dimon took over as CEO in 2004.
But the bank still managed to top forecasts, excluding charges. The stock was flat in late morning trading.
Wells Fargo reported significant increases in quarterly sales and profit, compared to a year ago. However, shares of the bank fell amid signs that its mortgage business weakened during the quarter.
On Thursday, House Republicans met with President Obama and offered a proposal to raise the debt ceiling temporarily, while the government would remain partially shut down. The meeting ended with no deal, but it was still seen as a sign of significant progress following weeks of gridlock. Meetings are expected to continue Friday.
Speaking of things economic, The University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters' gauge of consumer sentiment fell in October to the lowest level since January, according to a preliminary reading.
Separately, a recent Gallup poll showed that consumer confidence registered its sharpest one-week drop since the period immediately following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, with people worried about how the fracas in Washington could hit their wallets.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, lowering yields to 2.66% from Thursday’s 2.68%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank $1.58 to $101.43 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $29 to $1,267.90 U.S. an ounce.
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