Canadian stocks fell Thursday as telecoms and industrial stocks sold off, offsetting positive sentiment from news that Greek leaders had struck a deal to avoid default.
The S&P TSX Composite Index ended Thursday off 23.08 points to 12,497.94, its third downward session in the last four days.
The Canadian dollar rallied 0.07 cents to 100.48 U.S.
Among telecoms, Research In Motion Ltd. shares tumbled 3.7% to $15.80.
Shares of BCE Inc, Canada’s telecommunications giant, fell 3.6% to $39.40.
BCE’s fourth-quarter net earnings jumped 52.8% to $486 million, or 62 cents a share, but still fell short of analyst expectations of 66 cents. The firm’s earnings per share in 2012 were also lower than consensus estimates from analysts.
In the industrials sector, Canadian Pacific Railway lost 1.8% to $75.15. Shares of Bombardier Inc. also took a bruising, of 1.2%, to $4.76.
Canadian corporate earnings season this week kicked into high gear.
Air Canada reported a fourth-quarter loss of $60 million, compared with net earnings of $89 million in the year-ago quarter. Air Canada’s shares dropped 12.2% to $1.15.
Manulife Financial Corp was down 2.2% to $11.84. The insurance provider said it lost $69 million in the fourth quarter and its chief financial officer, Michael Bell, would be leaving.
In the metals and mining category, Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. was up 0.6% to $16.46 and shares of Lundin Mining Corp. rising 1% to $5.27.
Shares of mining company Teck Resources Ltd., however, declined 0.2% to $40.66 as the company’s quarterly profit nearly doubled, surpassing analyst expectations. Quarterly revenues totaled $3 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $2.7 billion a year ago.
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 stepped back 0.92 points to 1,664.82, while the Nasdaq Canada index dipped 2.30 points to 422.04
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups remained in the red at the close. Telecoms settled 1.3%, health-care stocks hurtled earthward 1.2%, and materials went down 0.6%.
The three gainers were consumer discretionaries, making 0.4% worth of headway, the metals and mining group, inching up 0.2%, and information technology, eking ahead 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, investors have been betting on a Greek austerity deal all week, and now that it's finally here, they're breathing a sigh of relief. U.S. stocks firmed Thursday afternoon following a morning of choppy trading.
The Dow Jones Industrials were positive, but only 6.51 points, to close at 12,890.50
The S&P 500 gained 2.34 points to 1,352.30, while the tech-rich Nasdaq took on 11.37 points to 2,927.23
Stocks have gotten off to a strong start in 2012, so investors may also be hesitant to push stocks much higher, 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 trading mixed 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 almost 40% after the snack food 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.
Apple shares popped after All Things D said the company will unveil the iPad 3 next month.
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 edged up after the company beat expectations with its fourth-quarter profit and revenue. The tech giant also boosted its quarterly dividend by 30%.
News that Greek political parties have finally reached an agreement on austerity measures and reforms sparked some optimism that the troubled nation will be able to secure more bailout funds and avoid a default.
The deal, which was presented to euro-area finance ministers, marked the first step toward securing a €130-billion bailout from the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank. Greece needs the money in order to make its payment on a €14.5-billion bond redemption next month
Though the progress is encouraging, the situation in Greece still remains highly uncertain.
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.
China's inflation rate rose in January, which may dash hopes that the country's central bank will soon take more action to support economic growth there. Consumer prices rose 4.5% year over year, China's National Bureau of Statistics reported Thursday.
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 rose 1% in December, topping expectations for a 0.4% increase.
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 $1.11 to $99.82 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for April delivery added $9.90 to settle at $1,741.20 U.S. an ounce
