The Toronto stock market was little changed Friday amid lower prices for oil and metals and a mixed run of earnings news from the United States.
The S&P TSX Composite Index fell 13.34 points by noon ET to 12,367.35.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.31 cents to 98.57 cents U.S.
The energy sector was down as Canadian Natural Resources lost 24 cents to $39.08.
The base metals sector fell as metal prices also backed away with March copper down two cents to $3.78 U.S. a pound.
But prices for the metal, viewed as an economic bellwether because it is used in so many businesses, have jumped about 4% this week after Chinese growth for the fourth quarter came in better than expected. China is the world’s biggest consumer of copper and the data raised hopes that Chinese authorities would loosen lending requirements to encourage growth.
HudBay Minerals gave back 16 cents to $11.32.
The gold sector dipped as Barrick Gold Corp. was down 23 cents to $46.74.
The telecom sector provided some relief as BCE Inc. rose 14 cents to $42.18.
On matters economic, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the annual inflation rate grew at 2.3% in December, a 0.6-percentage-point drop over November, due largely to slower growth in prices for gasoline and food, and actual drops in purchases of motor vehicles.
The nation’s number crunchers also told us this morning that wholesale sales fell 0.4% to $49.0 billion in November, after six straight upward months, due mostly to declines in sales of farm supplies and motor vehicles.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 0.84 points to 1,553.36, while the Nasdaq Canada index erased 3.69 points to 407.13.
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups had turned lower by lunch time. Metals and mining took a 2.3% hit, while information technology issues were off 1.3% and consumer staples lost 0.9%.
The two gainers were gold, ahead 0.9%, and financials, up 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, investors were unwilling to place any big bets early Friday, as key Greek debt talks remain unresolved.
Even so, the Dow Jones Industrials approached midday up 53.39 points to 12,677.40
The S&P 500 deducted 4.37 points to 1,310.13, while the Nasdaq Composite skidded 6.80 points to 2,781.53.
Investors are still weighing quarterly results from some of the nation's biggest tech firms that reported after the bell Thursday. Microsoft, Intel and IBM posted solid fourth-quarter earnings but Google badly missed Wall Street forecasts.
Google shares plunged more than 7% Friday, while IBM and Microsoft both gained more than 3%. Intel shares were up nearly 2%.
U.S. markets have more corporate earnings to digest, after Dow component General Electric reported its quarterly results Friday morning. The company's earnings just beat forecasts, but
GE's shares fell 2.2%, as its revenue fell short of expectations.
Shares of Apple edged slightly lower, a day after the tech giant's market cap briefly topped $400 billion U.S.
Shares of Carnival Corp., which owns the grounded Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia, remain under pressure. Carnival's stock has shed 7% since the Jan. 13 accident. Shares were down another 2% Friday.
Investors continue to fear repercussions from the European debt crisis, particularly the prospect that Greece may end up defaulting in a disorderly fashion. A deal on restructuring Greek debt remained elusive on Thursday, but talks continue Friday.
The deal is a key condition for Greece to receive additional bailout funds from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. Without additional financial support, Greece may not be able to make a €14-billion payment it owes on bonds that comes due March 20.
Officials from the IMF, E.U. and European Central Bank, known as the troika, are also in Athens reviewing the nation's finances.
Economically speaking, investors received an auspicious report on existing home sales from the National Association of Realtors Friday morning. Sales rose by 5% in December, faster than an expected 2.9%, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com.
Homes sold at an annual rate of 4.6 million, up from a rate of 4.42 million in November. The realtor group cited early signs of “sustained recovery.”
Treasury prices for the 10-year note eased, pushing yields up to 1.99% from Thursday’s 1.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery retreated $2.35 to $98.04 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery fell $3.50 to $1,658.00 U.S. an ounce.
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