The Toronto stock market danced around the breakeven point Thursday before finishing slightly positive, as commodity stocks moved into negative territory and investors turned cautious ahead of the release of key U.S. employment data coming out Friday.
The S&P TSX Composite Index gained 31.20 points on the day to 11,811.87.
Stock markets in Toronto and New York had earlier been held aloft by key reports from the U.S. jobs market, service industry and manufacturing sectors, even as some missed forecasts.
Canadian employment data for May is also being released on Friday.
The TSX base metals sector fell with the July copper contract in New York down nine cents at $2.95 U.S. a pound.
The sector has tumbled 24% from its 2010 high on April 9 while copper has plunged 66 cents or 19% on worries about falling demand from Europe as economies shrink amid moves to sharply drive down government deficits and debt. Meantime, demand from China has also dropped off sharply as Beijing moves to cool off a red-hot economy.
Teck Resources declined 99 cents to $35.07 while HudBay Minerals was down 42 cents at $11.52.
Gold stocks were also weak as Goldcorp Inc. faded $1.00 to $44.91 while Barrick Gold Corp. shed 66 cents to $44.16.
The energy sector was up as EnCana Corp. rose 89 cents to $34.79 while Canadian Natural Resources was up $1.02 at $37.70.
The TSX industrials sector was up with Canadian Pacific Railway ahead $1.44 at $59.60.
Canadian Western Bank shares climbed 67 cents to $24.16 after it said second-quarter net income rose 76% to $37.9 million, or 47 cents per share, from $21.6 million or 30 cents per share.
Revenues increased to $111 million from $75.4 million.
WestJet Airlines Ltd. shares rose 41 cents to $12.40 as the carrier said that it flew fuller planes in May as passenger traffic increased by 19% over the same month last year and it carried 125,000 more guests than a year ago.
The airline’s load factor -- which is a measure of how full its fleet was -- rose 3.6 percentage points to 77.7%.
Biovail Corp. shares were ahead 15 cents to $15.52 after the drug company agreed to pay up to $65 million U.S. plus royalties in return for the U.S. and Canadian rights to a new drug treatment for Parkinson’s disease, a potentially debilitating neurological disorder.
In other corporate news, British-Swiss mining company Xstrata PLC said it is halting investment in two projects in Australia because of the government’s proposed new tax on mining profits. The company has operations around the world, including Canada, where it is a major nickel producer.
Xstrata’s decision to axe investments worth $496 million U.S. deepens a backlash from the industry in reaction to the government’s plans to introduce a new 40% "Resource Super Profits Tax," or RSPT, beginning in 2012.
The Canadian dollar sagged 0.14 cents to 96.06 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, nine were in positive country by the close. Energy gained 1.8%, while industrials were 0.9% stronger and health-care surged 0.7%.
The five laggards were weighed by global base metals, down 2.3%, gold faded 1.7% and materials dropped 1.4% of their strength.
The TSX Venture Exchange settled back 0.18 points to 1,483.93, while the Nasdaq Canada index moved 0.67 points lower to 696.28.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, equities turned higher near the close, with gains in technology, energy and retail helping to power the Nasdaq, with the broader market stabilizing after a choppy session.
The Dow Jones industrial average had its head above water, though only 5.74 points, to 10,255.28 at the close.
The S&P 500 index added 4.44 points to 1,102.82. The Nasdaq composite index grew 21.96 points to 2,303.03.
Stocks gained in the morning, turned mixed in the afternoon and then staged another rally near the close.
The weak euro, a spike in crude oil prices and a rise in Treasury prices were all in play during the session. Financial shares were mostly lower, while Nasdaq components Microsoft, Yahoo and Dell helped lift that index.
On a broader level, the market is churning following a month long "correction" that set the Dow, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq more than 10% off the recent rally highs. Stocks slumped during that period on worries that the European debt crisis and weak euro will hurt global growth.
Although economists don't expect the country to head into a double-dip recession, the recent economic news has been mixed, adding to investor concerns. That was evident in the morning's readings on jobs, factory activity and services.
Investors are also wary of the correction becoming a bigger selloff and ultimately a bear market -- a decline of more than 20% off the lows.
The broad stock market advanced Wednesday as energy shares bounced back from the recent drubbing sparked by the BP oil spill in the Gulf.
But energy stocks were mixed Thursday as investors mulled BP's latest efforts to plug the massive oil leak, nearly seven weeks after its Deepwater Horizon rig exploded. Two ratings agencies downgraded BP, citing the financial impact and hit to its reputation as a result of the explosion.
Nonetheless, shares of both BP and Transocean, the owner of the rig, gained as BP said its latest effort, involving the use of underwater robots, was having some success.
Economically speaking, two labour market reports came out before the market opened, ahead of Friday's big payroll report from the federal government.
The number of first-time filers for unemployment insurance fell to 453,000 last week, down 10,000 from an upwardly revised 463,000 the previous week, according to the weekly jobless claims tally from the Department of Labor.
A separate report from payroll services firm ADP reported private-sector employers added 55,000 jobs in May after an upwardly revised 65,000 increase in April. The figure was short of estimates.
Friday's jobs report is the biggest of the week. The government is expected to report that employers added 500,000 to their payrolls last month, due partly to the impact of the Census jobs.
Employers added 290,000 in the previous month. The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, is expected to have fallen to 9.8% from 9.9% in the previous month.
Government readings released Thursday showed worker productivity rose at a 2.8% annual pace, slower than the previously reported 3.6% rate. Meanwhile, businesses' unit labour costs fell 1.3% in the first quarter.
Another report from the Commerce Department showed that factory orders increased 1.2% in April, short of the forecast for a rise of 1.7%. Orders grew 1.7% in March.
The Institute for Supply Management's services sector index for May held steady at 55.4, missing forecasts for a rise to 55.6. However, any reading over 50 shows expansion in the sector.
In other economic news, the nation's chain stores reported the ninth straight month of gains in May, with discounters such as Costco leading the charge.
Treasury prices faded, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.38% from Wednesday’s 3.33%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil gained $1.75 to $74.61 U.S.
Gold prices dropped $15 to $1,207 U.S. an ounce
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