Losses picked up on the Toronto stock market today afternoon as investors took some profits from an eight-day rally.
New York markets were also down sharply with financials leading the way following a string of gains amid some grim corporate news.
The streak ended for the S&P/TSX Composite Index, which fell 165.27 to close the week at 8,525.22. The index rose more than 1,100 points or 15% over those eight days.
The financial sector was off as Manulife Financial declined 76 cents to $13.97 while CIBC declined $1.15 to $44.55.
The base metals sector slipped as Teck Cominco Ltd. headed up 12 cents to $6.04 but HudBay Minerals eased 13 cents to $5.45.
SouthGobi Energy Resources Ltd. said today that an announcement last year overstated the estimated resource at one of its coal projects due to erroneous information provided to it by an independent consultant.
The company, a subsidiary of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., said the errors apply to the West Field portion of the Ovoot Tolgoi coal mine in Mongolia and don't affect the separate South-East Field and the Ovoot Tolgoi underground project. Ivanhoe shares added 10 cents to $6.41 while South Gobi shares fell 12 cents to $9.75.
The energy sector finished down as Suncor Inc. moved down $1.98 to $31.42.
The gold sector was flat as Kinross Gold Corp. announced it is staking a claim in the diamond business by paying $150 million U.S. for an indirect interest in the Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories and a 20% stake in Harry Winston Diamond Corp. Kinross shares edged 73 cents lower to $22.41 while Harrry Winston shares soared 88 cents or 38% to $3.16.
Lawyers for Nortel Networks Corp. are to appear in court today to ask that eight senior executives be allowed to receive bonuses under a program that the company says is needed to boost falling morale at the company. The company wants executives to be allowed to receive a share of $23 million U.S. that has already been approved for a group of 84 employees. Its shares were unchanged at 10 cents.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada said that retail sales rose 1.9% in January to $33.7 billion after declining 5.2% in December - their largest monthly decline in more than 15 years.
Sales rose in five of eight retail sectors, led by a 3.8% increase in the automotive sector.
The Canadian dollar was flat at 80.67 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 13 TSX subgroups, nine were in negative territory. Metals and mining lost 3.6%, followed by energy stocks, off 3.1%, and real-estate, which backpedalled 2.4%.
Gainers were led by utilities, up 0.7%, gold, up 0.5% and telecoms ahead narrowly, 0.1%.
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 1.89 points to 901.68, while the Nasdaq Canada index subtracted 6.53 to 429.88
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrials average lost 122.42 to 7,278.38. The S&P 500 gave back 14.41 points to 769.63, while the Nasdaq tailed off 24.90 points to 1,458.58
Indexes are ending the week higher partly because of the rally ignited last week after financial services giant Citigroup and Bank of America reported they were profitable in the first two months of the year.
Investors were also energized by Wednesday's announcement from the U.S. Federal Reserve that it would pump more than $1 trillion U.S. into the economy. The plan includes buying up to $300 billion U.S. in long-term government bonds during the next six months to force down borrowing costs.
However, concern later set in that the measures could lead to some damaging consequences, including driving down the value of the dollar and sending inflation higher.
In corporate news, mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson on Friday warned it expects to post a first-quarter loss before taxes as consumer demand continues to decline.
Printer and copier maker Xerox Corp. slashed its first-quarter profit forecast by nearly 80% on restructuring costs and a slowdown in technology spending. Xerox now expects earnings per share in a range of three cents to five cents, down from its previous forecast of 16 cents to 20 cents. Its shares fell 95 cents or 17.8% to $4.39 U.S.
Blockbuster Inc. suffered a fourth-quarter loss of $360 million U.S. to conclude another difficult year, but the struggling video rental chain has lined up critical financing to buy it more time to adapt to ever-fiercer competition from the Internet and cable services.
And Italian automaker Fiat has contradicted a statement from Chrysler's chief executive that the Italian automaker would be responsible for 35% of Chrysler's debt to the U.S. government should a proposed alliance go through. In a statement, Fiat said it "intends to make absolutely clear that the proposed alliance will not entail the assumption of any current or future indebtedness to Chrysler."
Financials moved lower following a report that Federal Deposit and Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair said that an emergency fee on banks' FDIC insured deposits is needed to prevent the reserve from falling to zero,
Financial shares tumbled Friday, with Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase among the losers.
Treasury prices slipped, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.63% from 2.60% Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The April oil contract in New York dipped 17 cents to $51.44 U.S. a barrel following a jump of about $3.50 U.S.
The April bullion contract in New York moved down $2.60 to $956.20 U.S.
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