Equities fell on Thursday as investors, positioning their portfolios at the end of the month, appeared less than impressed by a slew of quarterly results.
The S&P/TSX composite index was off its lows of the morning, but still trailed Wednesday’s close by 46.16 points to greet noon at 15,301.18
The Canadian dollar gave back 0.69 cents to 82.54 cents U.S.
Goldcorp saw its first-quarter profit fall due in part to lower margins on gold sales and a higher tax rate. It was the most influential decliner on the index, falling 5.4% to $22.91.
Rival Barrick Gold declined 2.9% to $15.75.
Potash Corp, which missed quarterly forecasts and also cut its full-year profit outlook, declined 1.6% to $39.17.
Suncor Energy Inc fell 1.2% to $39.39 after it reported a quarterly loss on Wednesday due to lower crude prices and a foreign exchange loss.
BCE Inc, which reported a modest first-quarter adjust profit, dipped 0.8% to $53.70.
Among financials, Royal Bank of Canada off 0.9% at $80.22.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada’s said Gross Domestic Product for February was unchanged after a 0.2% decline in January. The agency said the increase in the output of service industries, primarily in retail trade, was offset by an overall decline in goods-producing industries.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 1.92 points to 695.45
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were down, with gold retreating 2.1%, while the materials and consumer staples sectors each slid 1.5%.
The three gainers were metals and mining, up 1.5%, global base metals, up 1%, and health-care inching up 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded lower on Thursday as investors weighed some weakness in the dollar and higher Treasury yields, amid some positive reports on Greece debt talks.
The Dow Jones Industrials remained 89.15 points to 17,946.38, with Apple the greatest laggard and General Electric leading gains.
The S&P 500 index skidded 9.28 points to 2,097.67, with utilities the greatest of nine laggards and telecommunications the only advancer.
The NASDAQ index shed 40.26 points to 4,983.39.
Earlier, stocks briefly halved losses as investors found some relief from news of progress towards a deal on Greece. An International Monetary Fund spokesman said the fund does not expect the country to exit the euro-zone.
Major earnings on Thursday included Exxon Mobil, Colgate-Palmolive, ConocoPhillips, CME Group, Viacom, Imax and Beazer Homes before market open.
Exxon Mobil posted first-quarter earnings that declined sharply from a year ago but handily beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines.
Weekly jobless claims came in at 262,000, a 15-year low. U.S. personal income was flat in March, and consumer spending up just 0.3% when adjusted for inflation.
April's Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index survey came in at 52.3, topping expectations.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries drifted lower, lifting yields to 2.09% from Wednesday’s 2.05%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices eked up three cents to $58.61 U.S.
Gold prices tumbled $26.00 to $1,184.00 U.S.
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