The Toronto stock market was sharply lower Thursday amid data showing the economic recovery in the European Union proceeding at a slower than expected pace and a disappointing outlook from retail giant and economic bellwether Wal-Mart stores.
The S&P/TSX composite index stumbled 84.84 points to end the day at 14,588.89
The Canadian dollar nicked higher 0.09 cents to 91.93 cents U.S.
The gold sector was down with Barrick Gold dropped 64 cents, or 3.4%, to $18.30
July copper was down two cents at $3.14 U.S. a pound and the base metals sector eased as Teck Resources gave back 38 cents to $24.91
The energy sector fell as Imperial Oil dipped 38 cents to $53.10
Bombardier also weighed on the TSX after Air Canada decided not to immediately replace its remaining fleet of narrow-body Embraer E190s with the transport giant's CSeries airliners.
The carrier said that the 90-seat aircraft are still relatively young and it prefers to avoid more capital expenditures and debt as it focuses on adding 37 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and retrofitting 18 Boeing 777s with more seats. Bombardier shares fell 30 cents, or 7.1%, to $3.90 on very heavy volume of 31.6 million shares.
Air Canada also posted an adjusted net loss of $132 million, or 46 cents per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $143 million, or 52 cents per share, year-over-year as it was impacted by a lower Canadian dollar. Its shares slipped 31 cents to $7.91.
Elsewhere on the corporate front, Scotiabank wants to sell some or all of its 37% stake in asset manager CI Financial Corp. That position, acquired in 2008, is worth about $3.8 billion and the bank believes it can more profitably deploy the capital elsewhere.
CI Financial shares fell $1.15, or 3.2%, to $34.98, helping take the financial sector down. Scotiabank was up 56 cents to $67.53.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales in this country edged up 0.4% to $50.9 billion in March, the sixth advance in seven months.
The nation’s number crunchers say the rise mostly reflected higher sales in the food, machinery, and plastics and rubber products industries. However, these increases were largely offset by declines in the paper, and petroleum and coal products industries.
Lastly, according to statistics released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association, national home sales rose 2.7% from March to April. CREA also said the number of newly listed homes climbed 2.9% from March to April.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange capsized 17.09 points to 974.65
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups were negative on the day, as gold dumped 1.8%, materials slumped 1.7%, and industrials fell 1.5%.
The two gainers were real-estate, growing 0.8%, and telecoms, up 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Fear returned to Wall Street Thursday in a big way. Stocks were down across the board as the bears came out from hibernation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average staggered 167.16 points, or 1%, to 16,446.81
The S&P 500 dipped 17.68 points to 1,870.85, and the NASDAQ composite index drooped 31.34 points to 4,069.29
The selling adds to Wednesday's losses, and marks a significant shift from the recent trend. The Dow has hit a string of record closing levels this week, and the S&P 500 crossed the 1,900-point mark for the first time on Tuesday.
Investors were rattled by poor earnings and sales data from Wal-Mart. The big discount retailer said its results were hurt by bad weather and a delay in tax refunds caused by last fall's government shutdown.
Kohl's also had bad news. The department store chain said sales fell 3.4% in the first quarter, missing the company's own expectations.
After the market closes, fellow retailers J.C. Penney and Nordstrom will release quarterly reports.
General Motors announced five new recalls covering 2.7 million vehicles, including a wiring flaw tied to 13 accidents and two injuries. It was the latest in a string of high-profile recalls this year that have hit the automaker's bottom line.
The technology sector was a bright spot in early trading Thursday. Cisco Systems shares rallied more than 7% after the maker of information technology equipment and software reported earnings that beat expectations last night.
The fast-food industry is also in the spotlight Thursday as workers plan demonstrations in 150 cities around the world to protest low wages. Shares of McDonald's, Domino's and Burger King were only down modestly so far.
On the economic front, the government said new claims for unemployment benefits fell in the week ending May 10. As expected, consumer prices increased 0.3% in April. Excluding food and energy prices, the consumer price index rose 0.2% last month.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries marched, lowering yields to 2.50% from Wednesday’s 2.54%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices subtracted 86 cents to $101.51 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $11.10 to $1,297.40 U.S. an ounce.
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