Toronto stocks went sharply lower in Thursday afternoon trading and sustained its first daily decline in five sessions. Weakness in the financial and mining sectors drove the market lower.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dumped 226.80 points to end the day at 10,820.13, appreciably off the 10-month highs it reached Wednesday.
Financials dropped, as Manulife plunged 14.4% to $22.48 and Sunlife was down 11.6% to $33.25. Both companies reported quarterly earnings reports before the bell.
Healthcare stocks were up to lead the gainers. Biovail Corporation has gained 4.5% to $15.21 after the company reported net income of $24.09 million or $0.15 per share, compared with a loss of $25.29 million or $0.16 per share in the same quarter last year.
BCE Inc. was up 1.1% to $24.95 after the company reported for the second quarter net earnings applicable to common shares of $346 million or $0.45 per share, compared to net earnings of $361 million or $0.45 per share for the same period last year.
Mining stocks were down, as First Quantum declined 8% to $69.85, Teck Resources was down 5.5% to $27.93 and Ivanhoe Mines dropped 2.7% to $8.51.
Lundin Mining Corp. gained 6.1% to $3.85 after it reported second-quarter net income was $43.5 million U.S. or $0.08 U.S. per share compared with a loss of $108.4 million U.S. or $0.28 U.S. per share in the comparable period.
Stantec declined 2.3% to $27.47 after the company said its second-quarter net income increased to $22.3 million or $0.49 per share from $22.1 million or $0.48 per share in the prior-year period.
Thomson Reuters added 5.3% to $36.92 after the company reported second-quarter operating profit of $475 million U.S., compared to $254 million U.S. in the same quarter of last year.
WestJet gained 3.4% after the company reported second-quarter net earnings of $9.15 million or $0.07 per share, compared to $26.84 million or $0.21 per share in the same quarter of last year.
Logibec Groupe Informatique was down 1.8% to $18.25 after the company reported third quarter net earnings of $2.7 million or $0.29 per share, compared to $2.0 million or $0.21 per share in the previous-year quarter.
Roctest Ltd was down 6% to $1.26 after the company reported second quarter net earnings of $0.26 million or $0.05 per share, compared to $0.13 million or $0.02 per share in the prior-year quarter.
Canadian gold miner Iamgold Corp. added 6.1% to $12.31 after reporting net earnings of $44.1 million U.S. or $0.12 U.S. per share, compared to $33.2 million U.S. or $0.11 U.S. per share for the prior year period.
On the economic front, Canadian buildings permits rose 1% in June, compared to a revised increase of 17.5% in May. Economists expected the 1% rise, after an increase of 18.5% was originally reported.
The Canadian dollar was down 0.67 cents to 92.86 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, nine were lower. Financials sank the most, at 5%, while metals and mining stocks tanked 3.5%, and global base metals declined 2.3%.
Health-care stocks shone the brightest among the five gainers, leaping 8.1% on the day. Consumer discretionaries were next, up 1.7%, consumer staples behind them at 0.4%.
The TSX Venture Exchange jettisoned 6.87 points, to 1,188.12, while the Nasdaq Canada Index lost 16.62 points to 764.78.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks dipped Thursday -- on the eve of the closely watched July jobs report -- with investors bailing out of tech, financial and commodity shares in a step back from the big rally of the past month.
The selling pressure overshadowed any relief felt by the government's weekly jobless claims report showing a surprising drop.
The Dow Jones Industrials finished the in the red 24.71 points, to 9,256.26. The S&P 500 index fell back 5.64 points to 997.08. The tech-rich Nasdaq composite gave back 19.89 points, to 1,973.16.
Stocks surged in July and touched multi-month highs earlier this week, on relief that the economy and corporate profits seem to be close to stabilizing. But after hitting those levels Tuesday, stocks have slipped, with investors cashing out of some of the big winners during the run.
Since reaching a 12-year low of 676.53 on March 9, the S&P 500 had rebounded 48% through yesterday, the steepest rally over the same number of days since the Great Depression.
The bulk of that advance came through mid-June, before stocks dipped in anticipation of weaker earnings. But a better-than-expected reporting period has recharged the advance.
Cash for Clunkers gives consumers a rebate of up to $4,500 U.S. in exchange for trading in a gas guzzler and buying a more fuel-efficient auto. The Senate is expected to approve another $2 billion U.S. in funding for the program shortly.
A tepid batch of July retail sales from the nation's chains, released Thursday, show the impact of the sluggish labor market.
Late Wednesday, tech bellwether Cisco Systems reported lower revenue that met estimates and lower earnings that topped estimates. Looking forward, the company cut its current-quarter revenue outlook and CEO John Chambers said it was too soon to call a recovery. Shares of the Dow component were little changed Thursday.
AIG continued to rise Thursday as investors piled in ahead of its quarterly results, due out Friday. The troubled insurer, 80%-owned by the government, has nearly doubled its value this week, despite remaining mired in debt.
Other troubled financials rallied too, including mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were taken over by the government last year.
The rest of the financial sector was mixed, with Dow component American Express up nearly 3% and JPMorgan Chase down nearly 3%.
Procter & Gamble slumped after the Dow component reported weaker quarterly results Wednesday and warned that it would post lower profit in the current quarter as well.
Big oil stocks slipped, including Dow components Chevron and Exxon Mobil.
The U.S. economy’s worst contraction since the Great Depression is slowing faster than economists forecast. Gross domestic product shrank at a less-than-projected 1% annual rate in the second quarter. The Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators has risen three straight months, including the 0.7% improvement in June that topped estimates.
Economically speaking, first-time filings for state unemployment benefits declined by 38,000 to a seasonally adjusted 550,000 last week, while the number of people who continued to collect regular benefits rose by 69,000 to a seasonally adjusted 6.31 million the prior week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch were expecting claims to fall much less, to around 580,000
Treasury prices turned slightly lower, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.76%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil listed lower by three cents to $70.93 U.S.
Gold prices were down $3 to $963 U.S. an ounce.
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