Stock markets in Toronto opened a trifle lower on Friday the 13th, as investors speculated about the prospect of an earlier-than-expected wind-down of U.S. Federal Reserve monetary stimulus.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 9.38 points to open Friday at 13,105.01, after two straight days of losses.
The Canadian dollar eked backward 0.02 cents to 93.96 cents U.S.
An Air Canada Jazz turboprop plane bound for Vancouver was forced to make an emergency landing in the Pacific Coast province of British Columbia on Thursday after a fire broke out in one of its engines. Air Canada shares inched down two cents to $7.58
National Bank Financial cut the price target on Biox Corp to 50 cents from 75 cents following the company's fourth-quarter results that were below aggressive estimates. Biox shares gained 2.5 cents to 28.5 cents
CIBC raised the price target on BRP Inc to $33 from $31 following the company's strong third-quarter results. BRP shares moved higher 21 cents to $28.66.
National Bank Financial cut the price target on Empire Company to $82 from $83 on the company's reduced EPS projections for the next two fiscal years. Empire shares were unchanged at $72.99.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 3.75 points to 889.84
Eight of the 14 subgroups were higher, led by gold, up 1.3%, materials, progressing 1.1%, and health-care, prospering 1%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed mostly by telecoms, hesitating 0.6%, industrials, down 0.4%, and financials, skidding 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks regained their bearings Friday morning, pushing modestly higher after a three-day run of losses.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 13.68 points to 15,753.11
The S&P 500 index dropped 0.95 points to 1,774.75. The NASDAQ added 9.46 points to 4,008.03
Adobe shares surged after the software company reported sales Thursday that came in ahead of expectations.
Qualcomm named chief operating officer Steve Mollenkopf as its next CEO, succeeding Dr. Paul Jacobs, who will remain as executive chairman. Mollenkopf's name was recently tossed around as a possible successor to Steve Ballmer at Microsoft.
Restoration Hardware plunged after one of the company's co-CEOs, Carlos Alberini, announced plans to step down. The departure overshadowed Restoration Hardware's better-than-expected quarterly results.
Shares of petroleum company Anadarko were down sharply after a court ruled that it and its Kerr-McGee unit acted improperly in its 2005 spinoff of paint materials company Tronox. The judge said that the company should pay for environmental cleanup.
Stocks have fallen in recent days as investors took some money off the table after a record-breaking run. Stocks have surged this year, supported by the Federal Reserve's $85-billion-U.S.-per-month bond-buying program.
This week's retreat comes amid speculation that the Fed could begin cutting back, or tapering, its bond purchases as soon as next week, when the central bank holds its final policy meeting of the year.
The latest inflation data could bolster those who say the Fed is unlikely to act this month. Producer prices fell 0.1% in November, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The Fed's target for inflation is 2%, and some economists say the central bank is more concerned about deflation than the size of its balance sheet.
Meanwhile, the bond market is on track to have its worst year in history. Investors have pulled out $72 billion U.S. from bond mutual funds this year through the first week of December, the biggest annual outflow on record.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were unchanged, keeping at yields at Thursday’s 2.88%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $1.05 to $96.45 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices surged $8.10 to $1,233 U.S. an ounce.
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