The Toronto stock market is sharply lower as political turmoil in Greece and worries about slowing economic conditions took a big bite out of commodities.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 115.51 points – or 1% -- to stumble out of the gate at 11,589.23
The Canadian dollar sank 0.59 cents to 99.53 cents U.S., below parity with the greenback for the first time in weeks.
Stocks to watch this morning include heavyweight Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. Two more proxy advisory firms backed activist investor William Ackman in his bid to shake-up the company, a further boost for Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management in its proxy fight with Canada's number-two railroad.
Calfrac Well Services Ltd. said its quarterly profit missed analysts' expectation as an unusually warm winter in Canada slowed the movement of equipment.
Crocotta Energy Inc. reported a narrower first-quarter loss, helped by a rise in oil and natural gas production and lower costs.
Kinross Gold said on Tuesday its first-quarter profit fell 57% as its revenues were hit by one-time, tax-related charges.
Oil and gas whiz Surge Energy Inc. reported a profit on higher crude and natural gas liquids production and the company said it expects to double its funds from operations in 2012.
Sprott Inc. said its first-quarter profit rose about 60%, helped in part by investment gains.
Technology licensing firm Wi-Lan Inc. reported a first-quarter loss, hurt by a financing-related charge.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange erased 12.61 points to 1,325.61, while the Nasdaq Canada fell 5.96 points to 375.79.
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower in the first hour. Metals and mining stocks shed 2.2%, global base metals off 2.1%, and materials surrendered 2%.
Only health-care stocks held out against the negative tide, inching up 0.4%
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks opened sharply lower Wednesday as investors remained on edge over developments in Europe.
The Dow Jones Industrials jettisoned 130.03 points, or 1%, to open at 12,802.06
The S&P 500 ducked back 14.56 points to 1,349.16. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 29.59 to 2,916.68.
Investors will also keep an eye on quarterly earnings reports, as a handful of companies report results, including AOL, News Corp Cisco Systems and Priceline.com
For the second day in a row, U.S. stocks took a sharp tumble in the first half of the day Tuesday, but pared losses by the closing bell. The market's choppiness continues as investors worry about uncertainty in Greece's political landscape, which could impact euro-zone austerity agreements.
Shares of GlaxoSmithKline declined after the drug maker said it is taking its previously announced unsolicited $13 U.S. a share offer for Human Genome Sciences directly to shareholders in a hostile bid.
Shares of Human Genome have more than doubled since GlaxoSmithKline's April 18 offer, and are now trading above the $13 U.S. offer price.
Shares of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters edged lower after the company announced late Tuesday that founder and former CEO Robert Stiller had been stripped of his title as chairman for selling more than $125 million U.S. worth of Green Mountain stock earlier this week in a margin call.
The sale was in violation of company policy on insider trading following certain events such as earnings reports. A disappointing earnings report a week ago sent shares of Green Mountain down nearly 50%, prompting Stiller's margin call.
Shares of AOL popped after the web portal posted earnings of 22 cents U.S. a share, far better than the consensus forecast of seven cents U.S. a share of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, and topping even the most bullish forecasts.
Shares of Walt Disney hit an all-time high after the media posted strong earnings growth.
Bed Bath & Beyond agreed to buy Cost Plus for almost $495 million U.S., or $22 U.S. per share.
After the close Wednesday, News Corp., under siege for a phone hacking scandal in Britain, is expected to post earnings of 31 cents U.S. per share on revenue of $8.2 billion U.S.
Analysts predict network equipment maker Cisco Systems will post earnings of 47 cents U.S. a share on $11.5 billion U.S. in revenue, while travel website Priceline.com is forecast to report earnings per share of $3.95 U.S. on $1 billion U.S. in revenue.
On the economic slate, the Commerce Department's figures for March wholesale inventories were due at 10 a.m. ET. Economists expect inventories to have climbed 0.6%.
A weekly report on crude oil inventories will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET. Oil continued to drop Tuesday on concerns about Europe and the global economy. Prices for U.S. crude have declined more than 9% over the past six days.
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker will testify before a Senate Banking subcommittee on limiting federal support for financial institutions.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury strengthened, pushing the yield down to 1.81% from Tuesday’s 1.84%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil extended losses, falling another $1.29, to $95.72 U.S.
Gold futures for June delivery tumbled $17.20 to $1,588.40 U.S. an ounce.
