Stocks on Bay Street took a dip Wednesday -- led by a drop in mining stocks -- as commodity prices sank while economic woes accross North America came back into focus after Obama's historic presidential victory.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 229.38 points to 10,887.20.
In corporate news -- Newalta Income Fund announced it will convert from an income trust into a dividend-paying corporation. Newalta also said it is cutting its growth capital spending next year by about 30 per cent to $75 million, as it presented third-quarter results showing a 19 percent increase in revenue to $158.6 million and a 5 percent rise in net income to $18.7 million.
Third-quarter profit increased 90 percent over a year ago for Enbridge Inc., as revenue swelled 66 percent to $4.37 billion from $2.63 billion. The pipeline operator earned $148.4 million or 41 cents per share in the three months ended Sept. 30, up from $78.1 million a year earlier. Operating earnings adjusted for one-time items were $85.8 million, up from $79 million.
Pengrowth Energy Trust reported third-quarter earnings of $422.4 million, powered by pre-tax gains of $476 million on mark-to-market commodity hedging, while oil production declined 5 percent.
Agrium Inc. reported third-quarter net earnings of US$367 million, more than seven times the $51 million the farm-inputs company earned in the year-ago period. Agrium's July-September sales bloomed to $3.18 billion from $1.04 billion, boosted by high fertilizer prices and the acquisition in May of UAP.
Domtar Corp. booked third-quarter net earnings of $43 million, 8 cents per share, up from of $36 million a year ago. Sales for the quarter were $1.6 billion.
Cameco Corp. disclosed a ''modest increase'' in water inflow into a development area of its McArthur River uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan. Cameco said the inflow is only 10 per cent of its pumping capacity and is ''well managed,'' and it made the disclosure to prevent rumours.
Shifting to economic data, Automatic Data Processing reported that the U.S. lost 157,000 jobs in October. Economists had forecast a loss of 100,000 jobs. The ADP figure for September was revised to a loss of 26,000 jobs from an initial read of 8,000. Investors also will be taking in the Institute for Supply Management's services index.
Also -- the Institute for Supply Management also reported that its services index showed a reading of 44.4 for October, down from 50.2 in September. Economists were looking for the index to register at 47.
The Canadian dollar, meanwhile, was trading at 85.51 cents US, off 1.29 cent.
BAYSTREET
Only one of the TSX sub-groups traded higher today -- health-care issues rose 0.01 percent.
On the downside -- mining stocks shed 7.93 percent; real-estate issues fell 4.55 and industrial issues were down 4.36 percent.
Gold futures fell, snapping a two-day winning streak, down $14.9 to close at $742.40 US an ounce.
Meanwhile, the TSX Venture Exchange moved down 23.85 points to 951.42 while NASDAQ Canada stocks were off 24.59 points at 528.11.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks hastened their sharp declines, erasing the largest Election Day gains in more than two decades, as investors pondered the task ahead for President-elect Barack Obama in confronting the poor shape of the economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 486.01 points, or 5.1 percent, to 9139.27, and the S&P 500 was lower by 52.98 points, or 5.3 percent, at 952.77. The Nasdaq dropped 98.48 points, or 5.5 percent, to 1681.64.
Ahead of Wednesday's session, several corporate headlines were detracting from buying sentiment. Aircraft maker Boeing announced that its 787 Dreamliner program was suffering delays because it needs to replace improperly attached fasteners on the new jets.
Solar panel maker SunPower reduced its fourth-quarter and 2009 earnings figures, saying a strengthening dollar vs. the euro would hurt its results.
Homebuilder KB Home cut its quarterly dividend 75 percent, citing a goal of maintaining a strong financial position.
Another day brought additional earnings statements. Time Warner reported a slight drop in third-quarter earnings and reduced its 2008 earnings forecasts because of additional restructuring it expects to incur.
Longer-dated U.S. Treasury securities were rising in price. The 10-year was up 14/32, yielding 3.67 percent, and the 30-year was gaining 32/32 to yield 4.14 percent. The American dollar was falling vs. its major foreign competitors.
Crude fell, with oil futures for December delivery off $5.23 to finish at $65.30 US a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Energy Information Administration reported that crude-oil inventories for last week were unchanged, whereas economists were looking for an increase of 1.1 million barrels.
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