The Toronto stock market hovered near breakeven at Thursday’s close with investors reluctant to build on a solid gain from the previous session as commodity prices gave up ground and economic data reminded investors of the fragility of the U.S. recovery.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained back 17.84 points to end the day at 13,625.09
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.15 cents to 103.26 cents U.S.
The energy sector fell as the June crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange declined.
The drop followed a surge of more than $3 U.S. Wednesday as the latest inventory data from the U.S. showed signs of higher demand.
Meanwhile, the governing board of the International Energy Agency Thursday said it would like to see oil production ramped up amid growing signs that the rise in oil prices since September is affecting the economic recovery.
Suncor Energy regained 10 cents to $39.66.
Northern Alberta wildfires continued to impact oilsands production.
Cenovus Energy Inc. has slowed production to 4,000 barrels per day at its Pelican Lake operations from the usual rate of 22,000 barrels per day as an important pipeline remains shut.
Its shares were down eight cents to $33.80.
The base metals sector fell as metal prices weakened somewhat Thursday as the July copper contract on the Nymex dipped two cents to $4.06 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources moved down 22 cents to $48.48.
The gold sector was flat as Barrick Gold Corp. recovered 16 cents to $44.18.
Worries about slowing economic conditions have depressed commodity prices and pushed the TSX lower for the past three weeks.
The TSX had surged 166 points on Wednesday, its third day of gains, amid a sharp rise in oil and metal prices while the minutes from the latest meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve showed that the central bank is in no rush to raise interest rates.
Investors supported defensive sectors such as the utilities group, which was up slightly.
Canadian Utilities Group gained 53 cents to $58.15 and TransAlta Corp. gained 14 cents to $21.60.
Telecoms were also stronger with Rogers Communications ahead 70 cents to $37.45. The industrials group also supported the Toronto market with Canadian National Railways up $1.16 to $74.83.
Elsewhere, flight simulator and training company CAE Inc. beat expectations as its fourth quarter net earnings increased 23% to $49.7 million with $464.4 million of revenues. CAE shares were off 13 cents at $12.50.
RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust reported that first-quarter profits rose to $347 million from $60 million a year earlier. Rental revenue increased to $237 million from $213 million and its units lost 21 cents to $25.59.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the number of people receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits fell by 3% in March to 606,200, the sixth straight downward month. The number receiving benefits was down in every province.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange hiked 10.11 points to 2,002.22 while the Nasdaq Canada index sifted off 7.57 points to 667.68
In Toronto, 10 of the 14 subgroups finished up on the day, led by health-care and telecom issues, each group up 0.8%, while consumer staples moved ahead 0.7%.
The four laggards were weighed by global base metals, off 1.1%, while metals and mining and material stocks suffered 0.5% each.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks churned slightly higher Thursday afternoon, as investors weighed three disappointing economic reports against a backdrop of ongoing support from the Federal Reserve
The Dow Jones industrial average remained in the green 45.14 points by day’s end to 12,605.30.
American Express, McDonald's and Boeing led the gains, but a 2% drop in shares of Intel weighed on the blue-chip index
The S&P 500 picked up 2.92 points to 1,343.60, but sinking shares of Big Lots weighed on the broad index. The big box discount retailer's stock tumbled 10% after it said it would not be selling itself, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Nasdaq Composite Index added 8.31 points to 2,823.31, led by Dollar Tree. Sears Holdings was among the worst performers on the tech-heavy index. Shares fell nearly 3% after the retailer announced a net loss of $170 million U.S. for the quarter. Sears blamed bad weather and the weak economy.
Shares of LinkedIn more than doubled from their IPO price in early trading as the LinkedIn's stock debuted on the New York Stock Exchange. LinkedIn priced its initial public offering at $45 U.S. a share late Wednesday, valuing the company at $4.25 billion U.S., and making it one of the largest tech IPOs since Google
Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific jumped 4.3% after the lab equipment manufacturer announced a $3.5-billion U.S. acquisition.
Gap will report its earnings after the close.
On matters economic, the number of people filing for first-time unemployment benefits dropped sharply for the second straight week to 409,000, the government said. Economists polled by Briefing.com expected jobless benefits to show a drop to 420,000.
A report from the National Association of Realtors showed that existing home sales fell 4% in April. Economists polled by Briefing.com were looking for re-sales to rise almost 3%.
The April index on leading economic indicators slipped 0.3%, following a 0.4% rise the month before. Economists were expecting no change.
The Philadelphia Fed index, a regional reading, fell to 3.9 in May from 18.5 the prior month. That was the lowest level since October and much worse than economists were expecting.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained the ground it lost throughout much of the day, lowering yields back to Wednesday’s 3.17%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for June delivery fell $1.66, or 1.7%, to settle at $98.44 U.S. a barrel. The contract for June oil settles Friday.
Gold futures for June delivery fell $3.40, or 0.2%, to $1,493 U.S. an ounce.
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