Canadian stocks were flat on Thursday, while oil slipped a second day as a meeting of major crude producers in Doha this weekend is seen having minimal impact on supplies.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index loosed 3.06 points to close Thursday at 13,668.29. Still, the index remains one of the best-performing developed markets in the world this year with a 5.1% gain.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.18 cents to 77.85 cents U.S.
Gold producers took the brunt of losses, as Kinross Gold fell 26 cents, or 4.7%, to $5.30, while Barrick Gold dropped 75 cents, or 3.7%, to $19.81.
Fertilizer producer Agrium Inc. tumbled $5.96, or 5.3%, to a 2014 low of $107.02, after an analyst at Bank of Nova Scotia dropped Agrium from his focus list due to its valuation, adding he now has a sector outperform rating for Agrium, or buy, albeit with less conviction due to lower nitrogen prices and a weaker agricultural outlook beyond 2016.
Shaw Communications Inc. fell 77 cents, or 3.2%, to $23.54, after reporting second-quarter earnings. One Barclays Capital analyst said
Shaw will need years of investments to grow its recently acquired Wind Mobile asset, adding to a long list of investment priorities that will constrain the company’s ability to raise its dividend in the foreseeable future.
Among gainers, consumer staples made headway as Loblaw climbed $1.37, or 2%, to $70.63, while Premium Brands Holdings added 19 cents to $57.99.
In the financial field, Manulife Financial took on 24 cents, or 1.3%, to $18.43, while Royal Bank grew 62 cents to $77.39.
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 resumed its march, moving forward 3.7 points to 625.42
Seven of the 13 TSX subgroups finished the day downward, with gold and materials each surrendering 2.7%, while metals and mining dropped 1%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by health-care, hiking 1.1%, consumer staples, up 0.8%, and financials, picking up 0.5%
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed narrowly mixed Thursday, with financials rising for a fifth straight day after some major bank earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 18.15 points to close at 17,926.43, with Goldman Sachs leading gainers and Walt Disney weighing most on decliners.
The S&P 500 was in the red 0.57 points to 2,081.85 Financials attempted a fifth-straight day of gains and were among the top S&P 500 advancers in early afternoon trade, after JPMorgan's earnings beat to help the major stock indexes close at their highest levels of the year so far. The sector is about 4% lower year-to-date as the worst S&P 500 performer.
The NASDAQ index finished a seesaw day down 1.53 points to 4,945.89
Shares of Bank of America traded more than 2.5% higher. The bank 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. The stock was up 2% in afternoon trade.
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. Shares of Wells Fargo were a touch lower. Meanwhile, 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 1.79% from Wednesday’s 1.76%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped 35 cents a barrel to $41.41 U.S.
Gold prices fell back $17.81 to $1,224.60 U.S. an ounce.
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