The Toronto stock market was slightly higher mid-afternoon Thursday as fresh concerns about the U.S. economy lifted gold prices and bullion stocks and weakened base metal and energy stocks.
The S&P TSX Composite Index was ahead 24.92 points to close at 11,945.97
On the TSX, Barrick Gold Corp. gained $1.71 to $46.05 while Goldcorp Inc. improved by $1.01 to $46.15.
Gammon Gold Inc. said it has suspended operations and fired 397 workers at its El Cubo mine in Mexico. The Halifax-based company will also file criminal charges against seven union executives. The company said it experienced continued illegal labour disruptions at the mine and financial demands from the union that Gammon describes as "untenable." Its shares slipped 76 cents to $7.00.
The base metals sector declined, as the poor U.S. data helped push the July copper contract in New York down nine cents to $2.90 U.S. a pound. Quadra FNX Mining, which announced Wednesday that a Chinese company has pulled out of a joint venture, dipped 57 cents to $11.91 while Teck Resources lost 80 cents to $35.37.
Copper had also enjoyed a series of advances from last week when data showed a stronger than expected rise in Chinese exports, which in turn raised hopes for demand for the metal.
The energy sector was down as Suncor Energy fell 18 cents to $34.69.
Magna has offered to buy out founder Frank Stronach’s controlling stake for $863 million U.S. but the Ontario Securities Commission and some shareholders don’t like the offer. Magna shares climbed 29 cents to $69.55.
Patent licensing company Wi-LAN Inc. said it has signed a six-year wireless patent licensing agreement with consumer electronics maker Sharp Corp. covering products like its Wi-Fi-enabled laptops and mobile phone handsets. Wi-LAN shares ran ahead 11 cents to $3.25.
In economic news, Statistics Canada said wholesale sales declined 0.3% in April to $44.0 billion, following a downwardly revised 1.2% increase in March. Economists were expecting a month-over-month increase of 0.3%, after the 1.4% increase initially reported for the previous month.
The Canadian dollar eased 0.17 cents to 97.37 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
The 14 TSX subgroups were evenly split between gainers and losers. Gold led the former group, picking up 2.9%, while materials tacked on 1.5% and health-care stocks were 1% stronger.
Metals and mining issues weighed down the latter group, losing 1.7%, while global base metals faded 1.1% and information technology tailed off 0.5%.
The TSX Venture Exchange added 19.38 points to 1,481.38 while the Nasdaq Canada index gained 2.61 points to 700.85
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks erased losses to end higher Thursday as a rally in commodity and consumer shares enabled investors to look past worse-than-expected reports on jobs and manufacturing.
The Dow Jones industrial average regained 24.71 points by the closing bell to 10,434.17
The S&P 500 index added 1.43 points to 1,116.04. The Nasdaq composite index finished up 1.23 points to 2,307.16.
Stocks were mixed to higher early in the session as investors weighed a rise in weekly jobless claims with better news out of Europe. But the tone turned negative after the release of weaker-than-expected readings on manufacturing and leading economic indicators (LEI).
Nonetheless, stocks managed to erase losses and end above breakeven, with the Dow sporting a small advance.
The concerns were tempered somewhat by reports out of Europe that showed Spain getting solid results for its bond auctions, easing worries that the country's fiscal woes could be in as bad as those of Greece. A separate report showed improved retail sales in Britain last month.
COMEX gold for August delivery rose to an all-time high.
Worries that the European debt crisis could send the United States back into recession have dragged on U.S. stocks over the past two months.
Markets remain vulnerable to a little pullback after the Dow jumped nearly 600 points, or 6%, in just over a week.
Stocks were mixed Wednesday, after BP said it was canceling its quarterly dividend and establishing a $20-billion U.S. fund to cover damages related to the Gulf oil spill. BP remained in focus Thursday as chief executive Tony Hayward testified before a House committee.
Hayward told the committee he was "deeply sorry" for the catastrophe, after lawmakers lambasted him for being oblivious to the risks that led to the explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig and subsequent oil leak.
The Dow managed to end higher, with Caterpillar, Chevron, Travelers, IBM and Wal-Mart Stores providing the lift.
In company news, grocery chain Kroger gained 3% after reporting higher-than-expected quarterly earnings and saying current-quarter sales are tracking roughly in line with the previous quarter.
Food and consumer products maker J.M. Smucker reported higher quarterly net income, sending shares up around 6%.
Economically, the weekly jobless claims report from the Department of Labor showed a gain of 472,000 initial claims in the week ended June 12.
This was much higher than expected. Economists had forecast 450,000 Americans to have filed new claims for unemployment last week, according to Briefing.com consensus. But this was based on the initial report of 452,000 in the previous week, a figure that the government upwardly revised to 460,000.
The Consumer Price Index, the government's main inflation gauge, rose 0.2% in May, trumping expectations of a slight decline. A consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected to show that prices fell 0.1% in May after falling 0.1% the month before.
Excluding energy and food prices, the so-called core CPI, prices ticked up by 0.1% last month, after being unchanged in April. This report matched expectations.
Another report, LEI, rose 0.4% in May versus forecasts for a rise of 0.5%. LEI was flat in April.
Elsewhere, the Philadelphia Fed index, a regional reading on manufacturing, fell to 8 in June from 21.4 in May, missing forecasts for a drop to 20, as activity slowed far more than expected.
Treasury prices moved slightly upward, lowering the 10-year note's yield to 3.19% from 3.28% Wednesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions
The price of a barrel of oil stumbled $1.07 to $76.60 U.S.
Gold prices jumped $17 to $1,247 U.S. an ounce, again, an all-time high.
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