Stocks on Bay St continued lower Friday, afternoon despite a rise in oil prices and Canadian retail numbers that came in better than expected.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 17.12 points, or 0.14%, to 12,582.11.
Statscan reported this morning that retail sales in Canada were up 0.5% in August, compared with economists’ expectations for a 0.1% decline. Also, July’s figures were revised up to a gain of 0.1%.
In a separate report -- annual inflation in September was up 1.9% from 1.7% in August, which is what economists expected. Core inflation, which strips out volatile items like energy and certain foods, was a little weaker than anticipated at 1.5%.
Potash shares slumped 0.9% to $145.38 after the government of Saskatchewan, where the company is based, said it opposed BHP Billiton's $39 billion bid to buy the fertilizer supplier, setting the stage for a politically charged final decision by the federal government.
In earnings news -- Shaw Communications Inc. said on Friday its quarterly profit fell 1.6%, missing expectations. Shaw earned $122 million or 28 cents per share in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2010, down from $124 million, or 29 cents, a year earlier.
The Canadian dollar, meanwhile is trading higher at 97.63 cents US.
ON BAYSTREET
Ten of the TSX Subgroups were in the green this aftenoon. Mining issues were up by .82% followed by health-care; up .60% and then gold; up .51%.
On the downside -- financial issues were down 0.78%, Consumer discretionary were down .65% and utility issues shed .15%.
The TSX Venture Exchange was up 9.41 points to 1870.26, while the Nasdaq Canada index was ahead by 1.34 points to 634.66.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fluctuated between small gains and losses Friday even as corporate earnings continued rolling in above estimates, as investors exerted caution at the start of a weekend meeting of the Group of 20 finance ministers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 26 points, or 0.2%, to 11,120, while the S&P 500 was ahead by 1 point, or 0.09%, at 1181, and the Nasdaq added 15 points, or 0.6%, to 2475.
The two-day Group of 20 finance and central bank meeting kicked off Friday in South Korea, with tensions about a so-called currency war brewing.
In a letter to the G-20 ministers, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urged some developing countries to stop keeping their currencies artificially low, and to cap their surpluses or deficits to rebalance the world economy.
Among stocks in focus, Amazon.com slipped 0.2%. The Internet retailing giant posted a 16% profit increase as sales continued at breakneck pace, but investors grew concerned with heavy spending the company is doing to expand its business. Amazon's operating expenses rose 40% in the third quarter from a year earlier.
Honeywell said net income fell 18% to $499 million, or 64 cents a share, on revenue of $8.39 billion. But the company beat analysts' expectations for a profit of 62 cents on revenue of $8.22 billion.
Verizon topped estimates by 2 cents with adjusted earnings of 56 cents a share on sales of $26.5 billion. The stock slipped 0.6% to $32.34.
In commodity markets, the December crude oil contract gained 56 cents to trade at $81.12 a barrel. Meanwhile, the December gold contract shed 80 cents to $1,324.80 an ounce.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield down to 2.58%.
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