Stocks retreated slightly by midday Wednesday, weighed down by concerns about an oncoming European recession after Germany’s economy contracted in the fourth quarter.
The S&P/TSX Composite was off 36.02 points by noon to 12,234.64
The Canadian dollar shaved off 0.33 cents to 98.10 cents U.S.
The dip marks a contrast to the strong gains that major indexes have enjoyed so far this year, with the TSX rising for five of the previous six trading sessions.
Among commodities, crude oil fell. However, gold rose in price, though the gold sector declined. Among key producers, Suncor Energy Inc. fell 0.2% and Barrick Gold Corp. fell 0.3%
Meanwhile, Magna International Inc. fell 0.9%, even as the auto parts maker raised its sales outlook for 2012.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange shed 12.87 points to 1,529.36, while the Nasdaq Canada index regained 0.92 points by midday to 389.54
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by the lunch break, led by consumer staples and health-care, up 0.8% each, and industrials, up 0.5%.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by energy, down 1.3%, gold, down 0.5%, and the metals and mining group, off 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks were little changed Wednesday, a day after hitting their highest levels in nearly six months, as concerns about Europe's debt crisis were once again front and centre.
The Dow Jones Industrials were down 42.31 points to approach noon at 12,420.20
The S&P 500 doffed 2.97 points at 1,289.11, while the Nasdaq Composite reacquired 2.61 points to 2,705.11.
Financial stocks, which were among the biggest gainers Tuesday, were on the rise again Wednesday. Shares of Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase were up between 0.3% and 2%.
Urban Outfitters shares plunged after the retailer announced late Tuesday that its CEO, Glen Senk, is resigning. Richard Hayne, a co-founder of the company, will take his place.
Shares of Lennar rose even after the homebuilder announced earnings that fell short of estimates. Its revenue was better than expected.
Shares of Crocs spiked after the company said it expected its fourth-quarter revenue to come in at the high end of its forecast and full-year sales to top $1 billion U.S.
Shares of BP fell after the oil company announced a deal with Sempra Energy to invest more than $1 billion U.S. in wind farms in Pennsylvania and Kansas.
Investors are mulling over a solid German bond auction of five-year notes that came earlier in the day, as well as a report that showed the German economy contracted 0.25% in the last three months of the year.
In a sign of nervousness, euro-zone banks parked a new all-time high of €485.9 billion in the European Central Bank's overnight deposit facility Tuesday. European banks don't get much in return by lending to the ECB; they use the central bank's deposit facility in lieu of lending to each other at higher rates in times of uncertainty.
Meanwhile, the euro slid as much as 0.8% to a 16-month low around $1.26 U.S.
Still, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and German Chancellor Angela Merkel sounded upbeat about finding a solution to Europe's debt crisis following a meeting in Berlin.
On the economic front, the Federal Reserve will release its Beige Book report at 2 p.m. ET, summarizing economic outlooks from the 12 district banks across the country.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note gained, pushing yields down to 1.93% from Tuesday’s 1.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery erased 84 cents to $101.40 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery rose $11 to $1,642.50 U.S. an ounce.
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