The Toronto stock market was little changed Thursday as investors balanced disappointment with two U.S. economic reports with successful bond auctions in Italy and Spain.
The S&P/TSX Composite stumbled 1.78 points to approach noon at 12,259.16
The Canadian dollar settled 0.07 cents to 98.06 cents U.S.
The TSX energy sector lost early momentum and was flat mid morning with Canadian Natural Resources climbing 17 cents to $38.48.
The base metals sector climbed as metal prices also ran up sharply with March copper up 12 cents to $3.66 U.S. a pound. Copper has surged about 5% this week on trade data from China that suggested authorities could be ready to ease lending requirements to encourage growth.
HudBay Minerals gained 17 cents to $10.52.
The gold sector was ahead as Barrick Gold Corp. was up 41 cents to $50.15.
Financials also supported the Toronto market as Royal Bank rose 27 cents to $52.88.
The consumer discretionary sector was the leading decliner. Shaw Communications Inc. said first-quarter profits rose to $202 million or 43 cents a share. Revenues grew 19%, helped by higher prices in its cable division but its shares lost 33 cents to $20.15.
In other corporate news, Connacher Oil and Gas Ltd. said chief executive officer Richard Gusella is leaving the company barely a week after a big shakeup in its executive offices.
Gusella had taken on the additional responsibilities last week of president and interim chief operating officer, filling the roles after two executives departed. Its shares added eight cents to $1.01.
Rio Tinto Alcan has renewed and expanded an IT infrastructure services contract with CGI Group Inc. for three years in an agreement valued at $60 million. CGI shares dipped 16 cents to $18.55.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the New Housing Price Index rose 0.3% in November, following a 0.2% jump in October.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 6.20 points to 1,537.32, while the Nasdaq Canada index slid regrouped 3.61 points to 395.79
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were on the march by midday, led by gold, up 1.2%, while information technology gained 1.1%, and global base metals crept up 1%.
The half-dozen gainers were weighed mostly by energy and consumer staples, down 0.5% each, and utilities, trailing 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks lost ground Thursday after the release of weak economic reports from the U.S. government.
The Dow Jones Industrials were down 21.94 points at lunch to register at 12,427.50
The S&P 500 gave back 2.01 points to 1,290.47, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 5.68 points to 2,716.44
Two weeks into 2012, the S&P 500 is up 2.1%. The Dow is up 1.7% and Nasdaq is up 4%.
Shares of Sears Holdings fell 6%, after a Bloomberg report that CIT Group is halting loans to the retailers' suppliers.
Other retailers including Williams-Sonoma and Big 5 Sporting Goods dropped more than 10%.
Energy stocks moved down, with Exxon Mobil falling slightly and Chevron down 2%.
Reports on retail sales and initial jobless claims came in worse than expected, causing some new worries about the overall health of the U.S. economy.
Still, major indexes hovered around the breakeven line, as Europe offered investors some hope. Italy and Spain's first debt auctions of the year drew solid demand, calming fears about Europe's crisis at least in the near term.
During Spain and Italy's debt auctions early Thursday, both nations successfully raised more funds than expected and at lower borrowing rates than they paid a month ago.
Investors had been demanding higher interest rates, stoking concerns about the governments' solvency. Both Italy and Spain need to refinance billions of euros of debt this year.
On the economic front, initial unemployment claims for the week ended Jan. 7 totaled 399,000, the U.S. government reported, worse than expected. Claims were forecasted to come in at 375,000, according to analysts surveyed by Briefing.com.
Meanwhile, retail sales in December rose 0.1%. They were expected to have increased by 0.4%.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note fell, pushing yields up to 1.92% from Wednesday’s 1.90%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery jumped $1.33 to $102.20 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery gained $25.90 to $1,665.50 U.S. an ounce.
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