The Toronto stock market was lower Tuesday amid a disappointing read in U.S. retail sales while traders took another mass downgrade of the credit worthiness of European countries in stride.
The S&P TSX Composite Index had faltered 47.44 points by Tuesday noon, off its lows for the day, at 12,351.25.
The Canadian dollar nicked ahead 0.04 of a cent to 100.07 cents U.S.
The energy component lost ground with Cenovus Energy losing 46 cents to $38.18.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. stock fell $1.28, or 3.35%, to $36.89 after it said that its Horizon oilsands mine won’t return to full production until mid-to-late March. Output has been suspended since Feb. 5 as the energy giant made repairs to its upgrader, which processes thick, sticky bitumen from the oilsands into a type of crude refineries can handle.
The outage has caused Canadian Natural to lower its 2012 Horizon output targets to between 93,000 and 103,000 barrels per day of synthetic crude oil from 105,000 to 115,000 barrels per day.
The base metals sector lost territory as copper lost ground for a third day, down four cents to $3.80 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources gave back 83 cents to $38.47.
The gold sector was flat as Goldcorp Inc. faded 10 cents to $45.60.
Financials were also weak with Royal Bank down 21 cents to $53.45 while Manulife Financial fell 11 cents to $11.87 after ratings agency Fitch downgraded its outlook for the insurer to negative. Fitch cited "concerns about negative trends in adjusted earnings and the company’s financial leverage, which is at the high end of rating expectations."
Elsewhere on the corporate front, RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust reported its net profits plunged in the latest quarter as the company’s bottom line was affected by tax-related measures.
Net profits dropped to $242 million, or 87 cents a unit, from $1.3 billion a year ago. Its annual operating funds from operations -- a key financial measure for real estate companies -- jumped 16% to $380 million from $329 million. Its units dipped a penny to $26.94.
Oil and gas pipeline operator TransCanada Corp. handed in quarterly earnings of $375 million, or 53 cents per share, up from $269 million, or 39 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenues grew to $2.36 billion from $2.06 billion.
TransCanada also announced its quarterly dividend will be raised to 44 cents per share, up from 42 cents and its shares gained 23 cents to $41.71.
Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt is again intervening in a labour dispute at Air Canada. She has met with representatives of the airline and the Air Canada Pilots Association and initiated a six-month mediation process. Raitt told both sides that any work stoppage would be contrary to the interests of Canadians. Air Canada shares improved by two cents to $1.06.
The latest from Statistics Canada this morning is that car sales dipped in this country for a second consecutive month, down 3.0% in December to 133,146 units, mainly because sales in Ontario and Alberta were off.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 9.45 points to 1,639.91, while the Nasdaq Canada index gave back 0.30 points to 415.66
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups were down by midday. Global base metals fizzled 1.7%, while the metals and mining and gold groups suffered 0.9% each.
Consumer staples and health-care tried to provide some cheer, gaining 0.7% each.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks fell Tuesday as investors weighed a weaker-than-expected report on retail sales and ongoing worries about the debt crisis in Europe.
The Dow Jones Industrials found itself 18.89 points below breakeven by noon at 12,855.20.
The S&P 500 declined 3.56 points to 1,348.21, while the tech-focused Nasdaq subtracted 7.83 points to 2,923.56
Shares of U.S. banks were under pressure, with Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan all down sharply.
Shares of Michael Kors popped after the fashion label posted better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue, and also issued upbeat guidance for the fourth quarter.
Zipcar, which made its stock market debut last April, posted a profit of $3.9 million U.S., as revenues rose 21% to $62.9 million U.S. and total membership jumped 25% during the quarter.
Masco shares plunged after the home improvement and building products maker reported a narrower quarterly loss, but missed analysts expectations.
Goodyear Tire shares sank after the company reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss.
Shares of Hospira rose after the maker of injectable drug technologies reported quarterly results that beat analysts' expectations.
Watson, a maker of generic drugs, also reported better-than-expected quarterly results, sending its shares higher.
After the closing bell, social gaming company Zynga will post fourth-quarter results, its first report since its IPO in December.
Late Monday, Moody's downgraded six euro-zone countries -- Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain -- and the credit rating agency also warned that it may also cut the outlooks for Aaa-rated Austria, France and the United Kingdom to "negative."
But the ratings agency didn't downgrade the euro-zone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Fund, and spared France's top rating.
On Tuesday, investors showed strong demand for Italian debt in the latest round of auctions. German investor confidence also continued to rebound for a third straight month, rising to a 10-month high in February.
Meanwhile, investors remain on edge ahead of a meeting of euro-zone finance ministers, who will consider the latest bailout for Greece when they meet Wednesday. The Greek Parliament voted early Monday to approve a package of austerity measures aimed at securing the bailout, worth €130 billion, from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
On the economic calendar, retail sales were up 0.4% in January compared to December, the U.S. Commerce Department reported.
Sales were expected to have risen by 0.8%, according to a survey of economists by Briefing.com.
A surprise 1.1% drop in auto sales put a crimp in the overall advance. Excluding auto sales, retail sales rose 0.7% in the latest report.
Later Tuesday, a report on December business inventories is expected to show an increase of 0.5%, following a 0.3% rise in November.
On Capitol Hill, the Senate finance and budget committees will discuss President Obama's budget proposal
Treasury prices for the 10-year note gained ground weighing down on yields to 1.95% from Monday’s 1.99%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery gained 35 cents to $101.26 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for April delivery fell $3.90 to $1,721 U.S. an ounce.
