The Toronto stock market was down more than 170 points Friday after a much weaker-than-expected consumer confidence report south of the border and some disappointing earnings from key U.S. companies.
The S&P TSX Composite Index tumbled 172.12 points, or 1.5%, to close the week at 11,569.65, paring weekly gains. The market was down less than a point on the week.
Weaker growth expectations in China and the United States, combined with the continued sluggish recovery in debt-plagued Europe, have dampened the prices of everything from oil and metals to coal and wood products -- commodities used to fuel growth in the global economy.
The Toronto energy sector fell, as shares in Encana Corp. tailed off $1.04 to $33.40.
In the gold area, shares in Barrick Gold Corp. lost 89 cents to $43.97.
The base metals sector tumbled as the September copper contract on the Nymex lost 8.25 cents to $2.93 U.S. per pound. Shares in Teck Resources Ltd. lost 91 cents to $33.37.
In corporate news, shares in Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. jumped 43 cents or 32.1% to $1.77 after the biotechnology firm said it has been awarded a multimillion-dollar funding contract with the U.S. Defence Department.
Quadra FNX Mining Ltd. said it has increased its equity stake in Gold Wheaton Gold Corp. to 34.5%. Shares in Quadra fell 43 cents to $10.66, while shares in Gold Wheaton lost three cents to $2.25.
Bombardier Inc. said the Chinese Ministry of Railways has ordered 40 additional high-speed trains valued at $761 million U.S. from a Bombardier Transportation joint venture. The company said its portion of the contract is worth $373 million U.S. Shares in Bombardier lost three cents to $4.72.
In economic news, Statistics Canada said the composite leading index rose by 1.0% in June after gaining 1.1% in the previous two months. New orders for durable goods rose for a fifth straight month, adding 2.3%.
In another report, the agency said investments in non-residential building construction advanced 1.2% to $10.1 billion in the second quarter from the previous quarter.
The Canadian dollar was 1.47 cents weaker at 94.80 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but one of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower. Metals and mining lost 2.6% of their strength, while global base metals skidded 2.3% and information technology stocks swooned 2%.
Only health-care stocks bucked the trend, marching ahead 2.7%.
The TSX Venture Exchange settled 7.39 points to 1,379.37 while the Nasdaq Canada index was 28.26 points to the bad at 614.22.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks slumped Friday after financial firms Bank of America and Citigroup reported weaker quarterly revenue and a plunge in consumer sentiment revived concerns about the economic outlook.
The Dow Jones industrial average collapsed 260.96 points, or 2.5%, to close Friday at 10,098.35, a loss on the week of 99.68 points or about 1%.
The S&P 500 index moved lower by 31.39 points to 1,065.09. The Nasdaq composite index skidded 69.40 points to 2,179.68.
A flat reading on consumer prices was also in play, suggesting weak consumer demand and little if any inflationary pressure.
Declines were broad-based, with all 30 Dow shares falling. Oil and gold prices slumped, dragging down the underlying shares. Consumer names fell apart, including Dow stocks Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart Stores.
But financial shares were hit especially hard, with the KBW Bank index losing 5.6%.
Goldman Sachs shares bucked the trend, rising on news it settled its fraud case with the SEC for a smaller-than-expected $550 million U.S. But any relief about the settlement was tempered by concerns about the financial sector profits.
Stocks may have also been vulnerable to a bit of a pullback in the aftermath of two weeks of gains.
A number of big, influential companies reported better than expected earnings but provided some disappointment on the revenue side.
Bank of America reported a second-quarter profit of $3.1 billion U.S., surpassing Wall Street estimates, due to improving credit quality. But the company also reported that revenue fell from a year ago. The lower revenue, along with signs of weakness across several businesses, led investors to dump the shares Friday, with the stock losing 8.7%.
Citigroup reported earnings and sales dropped from a year ago, due to the weaker stock market. Results beat estimates on a per-share basis but missed expectations for revenue. Citigroup shares fell 5%.
General Electric reported higher quarterly earnings that beat estimates on weaker revenue that missed expectations. The Dow component also said GE Capital, its finance arm, was showing signs of stabilization and that it’s on track for solid earnings growth going forward.
After the close Thursday, Google reported higher quarterly earnings that missed forecasts on higher revenue that beat estimates, sending shares 6% lower in Friday trading.
Earnings are currently on track to have risen 28% from a year ago, according to the latest figures from earnings tracker Thomson Reuters. Revenue is on track to have grown 9% from a year ago.
Economically speaking, the government reported that the consumer price index slipped 0.1% in June, as expected in a Briefing.com consensus of economists' estimates. This follows a decline of 0.2% in May.
The core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2% in June, after edging up 0.1% in May. This is more than the increase of 0.1% forecast by economists.
The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 66.5 in July from 76 in late June. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting it to dip to 74.5.
Treasury prices crept up, lowering yields on the 10-year note to 2.94% from Thursday’s 2.99%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil skidded 76 cents to $75.86 U.S.
Gold prices were still negative by $15 to $1,193 U.S. an ounce.
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