Canadian equities headed lower Wednesday, pulling back after tallying a five-session gain of nearly 3% as disappointing data on U.S. private payrolls renewed concerns over the recovery in the global economy.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gave back 102.67 points to close at 12,220.27
The Canadian dollar shed 0.06 cents to 101.38 cents U.S.
Also weighing on the Canadian market were data showing that Canadian small business confidence fell in April for the first time since last August. The Business Barometer Index, compiled by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business declined 1.3 points to 66.4.
Resource stocks declined in Toronto, as metals and energy futures prices headed lower in New York.
Shares of Canada Natural Resources Ltd. declined by 2.3% to $33.91 and Encana Corp. fell 3.2% to $20.61. Yamana Gold Inc. traded 2.6% lower to close at $14.15, though it posted a slightly better-than-expected first quarter profit late Tuesday.
Shares in Barrick Gold Corp. fell 2.7% to $38.80. The company on Wednesday raised its quarterly dividend by 33% to 20 U.S. cents per share, but first-quarter adjusted earnings missed some analyst estimates.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched down 0.24 points to 1,431.44, while the Nasdaq Canada fell 3.36 points to 409.05.
In all, 10 of the 14 subgroups faded. Information technology gave back 2.6%, while the metals and mining group subsided 2.2% and energy fell 1.8%.
The four gainers were led upward by health-care stocks, up 1.4%, telecoms, ahead 0.3%, and utilities, up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks ended mixed Wednesday as investors digested a weak private-sector jobs report and mostly upbeat corporate results.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 10.75 points to close at 13,268.60. Alcoa was the biggest drag on the index, but Bank of America, and JPMorgan also weighed on it.
The S&P 500 dipped 3.51 points to 1,402.31. Energy companies, including Chesapeake, were the worst performers on the index. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 9.41 to 3,059.85. The tech-heavy index was supported by Flextronics and Garmin, which both reported strong quarterly results.
Shares of Chesapeake Energy plunged more than 10% after the natural gas company reported a surprise loss late Tuesday.
TripAdvisor shares jumped 17%, after the travel website said late Tuesday that net income surged 118% in the first quarter.
Singapore-based Flextronics, a maker of industrial electronics, said earnings rose in the first quarter -- even as sales declined. Shares rose 5%.
Garmin, a leading GPS device maker, reported a surprise increase in sales as earnings beat expectations in the first quarter.
Early Wednesday, Comcast reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations. The cable company announced earnings of 45 cents U.S. per share on revenue of $14.9 billion U.S. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected Comcast to post quarterly earnings of 42 cents U.S. a share on $14.4 billion U.S. in revenue.
Time Warner reported quarterly earnings of 67 cents U.S. per share on revenue of $7 billion U.S, surpassing expectations. A consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecasted an EPS of 64 cents U.S. for Time Warner, with revenues of $6.8 billion U.S.
CVS reported adjusted earnings of 65 cents U.S. per share for the quarter and revenue of $30.8 billion U.S. The company was projected to report earnings of 63 cents U.S. a share on $30.3 billion U.S. in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters.
Meanwhile, shares of major homebuilders rallied. D.R. Horton, Lennar and Pulte all moved higher on Wednesday.
A day after a strong report on manufacturing activity pushed the Dow to its highest close since December 2007, investors were hit with a grim reminder of the lackluster job market.
Payroll processor ADP reported tepid private-sector job growth in April, raising concerns about the government's monthly jobs report due Friday.
For the most part, stocks had been supported by better-than-expected corporate results for the first quarter. Of the S&P 500 companies that have reported so far -- 68% have beat analysts' expectations, according to some experts.
Economically speaking, the ADP report showed that the private sector added 119,000 jobs in April. That's considerably less than the forecast of 170,000 new jobs, according to a survey of analysts. It's also a significant decline from the prior month, when the private sector added 201,000 jobs.
The ADP report typically sets the tone for the government's highly anticipated monthly jobs report, due Friday.
Economists expect the U.S. Labor Department's data to show 160,000 jobs added in April, including 165,000 from the private sector and a loss of 5,000 government jobs.
The unemployment rate is not expected to fall below its current 8.2%, unless more workers leave the labour force.
Separately, factory orders for the month of March are expected to have dropped by 1.8%.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note ducked down, bringing the yields down 1.92% from Tuesday’s 1.94%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped 86 cents to $105.31 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for June delivery fell $8.40 to settle at $1,654 U.S. an ounce.
