The Toronto stock market was modestly lower Tuesday afternoon, led by resource stocks that fell alongside prices for oil and copper.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 32.35 points to end Tuesday at 13,326.04
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.14 cents at 95.32 cents U.S.
The gold sector declined, as Goldcorp faded 51 cents to $25.15.
Gabriel Resources Ltd. says it remains committed to its controversial Rosia Montana project in Romania after that country announced it would not allow the Canadian company to develop the mine.
Gabriel said a report by a special committee of the Romanian chamber of deputies and senate proposes a new generic legal framework for gold and silver mines such as the one proposed by the company. Gabriel shares jumped six cents, or 7.3%, to 88 cents after tumbling about 10% Monday.
Losses for oil and copper picked up after the comments by the Fed's Fisher.
Also, China's leaders finished a closely watched policy meeting with a promise to give market forces a bigger role in the country's state-dominated economy. But they failed to produce dramatic reforms.
The base metals sector fell while December copper slipped three cents to $3.23 U.S. a pound. Turquoise Hill Resources lost 10 cents to $4.77.
The energy sector lost ground as Canadian Natural Resources gave back 38 cents to $32.13.
The tech sector advanced, as CGI Group rose 97 cents, or 2.7%, to $37.11.
The consumer staples sector was up, and Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. says its third-quarter net profit was $166 million, down from $168 million a year earlier as it included pre-tax expenses related to a friendly takeover by Loblaw Co.
Ex-items, earnings per share were 88 cents, up from 85 Canadian cents a year earlier and seven cents better than analysts expected and its shares gained 33 cents to $61.05.
Home renovation retailer Rona Inc. posted quarterly earnings of $30 million or 25 cents per share, up from $5.5 million or five cents a year earlier, but down from $33.5 million, or 28 cents per share, in 2012 when excluding one-time items. Revenues decreased 4.3% to $1.17 billion amid weaker housing construction starts, particularly in Quebec.
Rona was expected to earn $39.2 million or 30 cents per share in adjusted profits on $1.25 billion of revenues and its shares advanced 44 cents to $12.45, after earlier moving as high as $12.43, just two cents shy of its 52-week high.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 9.04 points to 926.32
Six of the 10 TSX subgroups were higher on the day, led by information technology, up 0.9%, telecoms, improving 0.4%, and consumer staples, up 0.2%.
The four losing groups were weighed mostly by materials, sliding 1.1%, energy, reversing 0.9%, and consumer discretionary stocks, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The bull took a bit of a breather on Tuesday, with stocks retreating from their recent record highs.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 32.43 points from Monday’s all-time high to 15,750.70.
The S&P 500 index slid 4.92 points to 1,766.97. The NASDAQ inched up 0.13 points to 3,919.92
Still, stocks are not far off from their record highs. Overall, the S&P 500, Dow and NASDAQ are all up more than 20% in 2013, thanks to a slowly recovering economy and continued bond buying from the Fed.
Dish Network shares rose nearly 5% after the satellite TV company reported stronger-than-expected earnings and revenue in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, DR Horton, one of the U.S.'s largest homebuilders, rose about 3%, after reporting earnings in line with Wall Street's expectations. Other homebuilders were mixed, with Lennar rising slightly and Toll Brothers and PulteGroup falling.
FedEx shares rose after activist investor Dan Loeb said his hedge fund, Third Point LLC, owns the stock and that he likes the company's CEO Fred Smith. Loeb is known for demanding changes at companies like Yahoo and Sony, but investors aren't sure yet what exactly he has in store for FedEx.
US Airways shares were briefly halted after the company announced it had reached a settlement with the Justice Department in an antitrust case. US Airways has plans to buy American Airlines, creating the world's largest airline, and the government claimed the deal would "substantially lessen competition" for commercial air travel.
Investors also seemed to think the deal would be good for the rest of the industry. Shares of rival airlines Delta, Southwest, United Continental and JetBlue all rose.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries faded, raising yields to 2.77% from Friday’s 2.75%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. Treasury markets were closed Monday for Veterans Day.
Oil prices slumped $2.04 to $93.10 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded $14.90 to $1,266.20 U.S. an ounce.
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