Stocks in Canada's largest market were fairly flat at Thursday's open, as gains in the financial sector were offset by losses among gold and raw materials producers.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index poked ahead 6.1 points to open Thursday at 13,677.45
The Canadian dollar slid 0.11 cents to 77.91 cents U.S.
Pacific Exploration & Production Corp said its board had agreed to negotiate a financial restructuring involving the Catalyst Capital Group Inc and the company's creditors.
Pacific Shares dipped five cents, to 6.6%, to 71 cents.
Teck Resources said water containing metals had spilled at its Trail smelting and refining plant in British Columbia on Wednesday, with some discharge possibly flowing into a nearby creek.
Teck shares gained eight cents to $11.05.
Canaccord Genuity raised the price target on Corus Entertainment to $11.00 from $10.00. Corus shares lost four cents to $11.93.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported its new housing price index rose 0.2% in February, following a 0.1% increase in January. The advance was led by higher new home prices in Ontario and British Columbia.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 5.2 points to 621.72
Eight of the 13 TSX subgroups started the day downward, as materials sagged 0.6%, information technology slid 0.3%, and gold lost 0.2%.
The five gainers were led by metals and mining, up 0.9%, financials, moving up 0.6%, and health-care, haler by 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Equities south of the line traded in a range Thursday, trying for a third-straight day of gains, amid bank earnings and choppy trade in
oil.
The Dow Jones Industrials eased back 8.36 points from Wednesday’s triple-digit gain to 17,899.72, with Goldman Sachs the top gainer and Home Depot and Intel the greatest weights.
The S&P 500 was lower 0.15 points to 2,082.27. Information technology was the greatest laggard in the S&P 500, while financials struggled for gains.
The NASDAQ index faded 10.56 points to 4,936.86,
Bank of America reported an 18% slide in quarterly profit as concerns about a global economic slowdown and uncertainty about the pace of U.S. interest rate increases dampened bond and stock trading.
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, posted a 20% drop in first-quarter profit on Thursday amid a dramatic reversal in financial markets.
Wells Fargo reported a 7% fall in quarterly profit as the third-largest U.S. bank by assets set aside more money to cover bad loans, mainly to energy companies.
Citigroup is due to report earnings on Friday.
In economic news, weekly jobless claims declined to a seasonally adjusted 253,000, revisiting a level last seen in 1973.
The consumer price index rose 0.1% last month. In the 12 months through March, the core CPI that strips out food and energy costs, rose 2.2% after gaining 2.3% in February,
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dropped, raising yields to 1.78% from Wednesday’s 1.76%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped a penny a barrel to $41.75 U.S.
Gold prices erased $8.31 to $1,234.16 U.S. an ounce.
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