The Toronto stock market was negative Wednesday as commodity prices fell amid fears that Britain is slipping into recession and that negotiations on avoiding a Greek debt default had hit an impasse.
The S&P TSX Composite Index approached the midpoint of the trading week down 22.90 points to 12,372.34
The Canadian dollar skidded 0.27 cents to 98.82 cents U.S.
Traders also took in a report that Britain’s economy shrank by 0.2% in the last quarter of 2011, a worse-than-expected result that raises recession fears.
The Office for National Statistics said that the economy, which had been expected to contract by only 0.1%, saw no growth in the key services sector and a slide in industrial activity.
Another quarter of contraction would put Britain officially in a recession.
Meanwhile, Germany's Ifo index, a widely watched gauge of business confidence, rose in January, indicating that the German economy may be gathering steam. The positive report follows an auction of 30-year German bonds that drew strong demand.
Shares in rival Research In Motion Ltd. edged up 33 cents to $15.50. RIM shares had tumbled 12% since announcing a management shakeup Sunday that saw co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis step down. Traders were unimpressed after the new CEO, Thorsten Heins, told analysts he didn’t think drastic change was needed at the BlackBerry maker.
The financial sector was a major TSX weight, with Royal Bank down 40 cents to $53.39 and TD Bank gave back 66 cents to $78.64.
The energy sector lost ground while Canadian Natural Resources eased 58 cents to $39.40 and Cenovus Energy was down 46 cents to $35.97.
The gold sector was down as Goldcorp Inc. faded 41 cents to $44.44.
March copper was unchanged at $3.80 U.S. a pound but the base metals sector went south. Ivanhoe Mines lost 30 cents to $17.23 and HudBay Minerals shed 24 cents to $11.70.
In other corporate news, Crescent Point Energy Corp. plans to buy Wild Stream Exploration Inc. for about $770 million and spin off some of the acquired assets and liabilities into a separate company that will be led by Wild Stream’s current management. Wild Stream shares gained 14 cents to $9.94 while Crescent Point dipped six cents to $46.58.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 6.05 points to 1,582.34, while the Nasdaq Canada index regained 4.41 points to 396.94.
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups greeted noon hour in negative country. Utilities sank 0.9%, financials were off 0.6%, and global base metals demurred 0.5%
The lone stalwarts proved to be information technology, jumping 1.2%, and industrials, gaining 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks were mixed early Wednesday, as investors awaited the latest statement from the Federal Reserve and keep an eye on Greece's debt talks.
The Dow Jones Industrials gave back 54.04 points to 12,621.70
The S&P 500 fell 3.71 points to 1,310.94, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 11.37 points to 2,798.01.
Software company CA and Apple were the biggest gainers on the tech-heavy index, thanks to better-than-expected earnings.
Late Tuesday, the iPhone and iPad maker reported a whopping quarterly profit of $13 billion U.S. -- the best quarter ever for a technology company. The company said sales for the quarter hit $46.3 billion U.S., sending shares shooting up 6% Wednesday. The gains helped Apple surpass Exxon Mobil as the most valuable U.S. company.
Shares of Boeing dipped after the airplane maker reported a jump in fourth quarter profit and revenue, but issued disappointing full-year earnings guidance.
Delta reported fourth-quarter earnings that widely beat expectations, sending shares of the airline higher.
Shares of Ericsson tumbled after the Swedish telecom-equipment maker reported a 66% drop in fourth-quarter profit, driven by weak network sales.
Yahoo reported a much quieter quarter than Apple, posting earnings in line with analysts' expectations after the close Tuesday. Shares of the company slipped.
Shares of Nvidia slumped a day after the graphics chip maker cut its fourth-quarter sales outlook, citing a shortage of disk drives.
Advanced Micro Devices also reported earnings late Tuesday, posting revenue that missed expectations. But shares of the semiconductor company rose slightly.
Investors are likely to remain anxious Wednesday over Greece's ongoing negotiations with representatives of private-sector creditors to reduce its debt burden.
Greece is in desperate need of an agreement to receive additional bailout funds from the
European Union and International Monetary Fund. Without these funds, the country may not be able to make a €14-billion debt payment that's due March 20.
On the economic beat, the Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged at 0.25%, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com.
Elsewhere, pending home sales for the month of December dropped by 3.5%, after rising 7.3% in the prior month. Economists were expecting sales to fall 3%.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note jumped, lowering yields to 2.01% from Tuesday’s 2.06%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery regained 14 cents to $99.09 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery fell $8.00 to $1,656.50 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
