The Toronto stock market was slightly lower Thursday amid some disappointing earnings reports while Greece announced it had reached an agreement that would meet the conditions to secure its next bailout.
The S&P TSX Composite Index approached noon Thursday off 9.56 points to 12,511.46
The Canadian dollar gained 0.20 cents to 100.60 cents U.S.
The Canadian corporate earnings season moved into high gear Thursday with reports coming in from some of the biggest names in the financial, communications and resource sectors.
The telecom sector declined as BCE Inc. said profits were up nearly 53% in the fourth quarter to $486 million or 62 cents a share. Adjusted earnings rose 5.1% to 62 cents a share, missing estimates by four cents. Revenues increased 10.4% to $5.17 billion and its shares slipped 87 cents to $39.98.
The financials sector lost ground and Manulife Financial Corp. shares fell 30 cents to $11.81 after the insurer reported a fourth-quarter loss of $69 million as it booked a charge of $665 million related to low interest rates. Total revenue was $9.7 billion from $3.42 billion a year earlier.
The industrials sector was also weak, as Air Canada shares dropped 19 cents or 9.2% to $1.19 as the carrier reported a quarterly net loss of $60 million.
The metals and mining sector was ahead after Teck Resources Ltd. reported fourth-quarter profit attributable to shareholders nearly doubled to $637 million, or $1.08 per share, a penny above analyst expectations. Quarterly revenues totaled $3 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $2.7 billion a year ago and its shares climbed 20 cents to $40.95.
In other earnings news, oilfield services company Precision Drilling Corp. handed in quarterly net profits of $28 million or 10 cents a share and its shares ran up 12 cents to $11.44.
Canadian Tire Corp. shares jumped $2.66, or 4.2%, to $66.16 as quarterly revenues jumped 21% to $3.1 billion. Excluding the impact of a positive tax settlement a year ago, earnings per share were up 43%.
Among gold issues, Barrick Gold Corp. climbed 37 cents to $49.29.
On matters economic, Statistics Canada’s new housing price index inched higher by 0.1% in December, following a 0.3% increase in November.
The nation’s number crunchers reported that building in Toronto, Oshawa, and Montréal lent most to the increase in December. The positive impact of these metropolitan regions on the overall index was offset in part by decreases observed in Vancouver and in Hamilton.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange tacked on 4.56 points to 1,670.30, while the Nasdaq Canada index dipped 1.58 points to 422.76
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups remained in the red by lunch time. Health-care stocks suffered 1.3%, telecoms settled 0.5%, and industrials went down 0.4%.
The five gainers were led by metals and mining issues, up 0.7%, with gold and consumer discretionaries each making 0.4% worth of headway.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks drifted lower in choppy trading Thursday as investors continued to focus on Greece.
The Dow Jones Industrials perked 17.94 points at midday to 12,901.90
The S&P 500 gained 2.06 points to 1,352.02, while the tech-rich Nasdaq took on 9.56 points to 2,925.52
Stocks have gotten off to a strong start in 2012, so investors may also be hesitant to push stocks much higher, some experts noted. The Nasdaq is up almost 12%, while the S&P 500 has climbed 7% and the Dow had added more than 5%.
Bank stocks were big winners Thursday after five of the nation's largest banks -- including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial -- agreed to a $26-billion U.S. mortgage settlement.
Yahoo's stock rose following news reports that Chinese conglomerate Alibaba wants to buy back the 40% stake that Yahoo owns in the company. Shares of Hong Kong-listed Alibaba were suspended Thursday.
Shares of Diamond Foods plunged 40% after the snack foods company said it will restate two years worth of financial results, after an auditing probe discovered that the company had improperly accounted for payments made to walnut growers. Diamond Foods also put two top executives -- CEO Michael Mendes and CFO Steven Neil -- on administrative leave.
Corporate earnings also remained in the spotlight Thursday.
PepsiCo's fourth-quarter profit and revenue topped expectations, but shares fell as the company also announced 8,700 job cuts as part of a cost-cutting measure to increase investments in advertising and marketing.
Shares of daily deals site Groupon tumbled Thursday, a day after the firm posted a surprise loss for its first quarter as a public company.
Cisco's stock declined despite the company beating expectations with its fourth-quarter profit and revenue. The tech giant boosted its quarterly dividend by 30%.
News that Greek political parties have finally reached an agreement on austerity measures and reforms sparked increasing optimism that the troubled nation will be able to secure more bailout funds and avoid a default.
Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelo will present the deal this afternoon at the meeting of finance ministers from the euro area.
The deal was a major step for Greece toward securing a second bailout of €130 billion from the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank. Greece needs the bailout money in order to make its payment on a €14.5-billion bond redemption next month.
The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate at 1%.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England also left rates unchanged, but said it would buy another £50 billion, about $79 billion U.S., of U.K government bonds to help stimulate the British economy.
On the economic front, initial unemployment claims fell by 15,000 to 358,000 during the latest week, a level near the four-year low hit in January. Economists expected 370,000 claims, compared to the previous week's 373,000.
Meanwhile, slightly more than 3.5 million Americans filed continuing claims, an increase by 64,000, in the week ended Jan. 28. Economists were expecting 3.47 million continuing claims.
Wholesale inventories, due later in the morning, are expected to have increased by 0.4% for the month of December, after ticking up by 0.1% in the month prior.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note fell, raising yields to 2.05% from Wednesday’s 1.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery advanced $1.12 to $99.83 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for April delivery added $19.40 to $1,750.60 U.S. an ounce.
