Gold stocks pushed Canadian equities a shade above breakeven Thursday as the precious metal bounced off its 10-month low.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index picked up 4.48 points – well off its highs of the day -- to close at 11,330.56
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.66 to 98.14 cents U.S.
Shares of Barrick Gold Corp. surged 7% to $38.22, Goldcorp Inc. jumped 6.9% to $35.49, Yamana Gold Inc. shares rose 4.6% to $13.79, Eldorado Gold Corp. rose 5.8% to $11.01, and Kinross Gold Corp. shares advanced 6.3% to $7.89.
Among energy plays, Suncor Energy Inc. traded up 0.3% to $27.54, and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. saw its shares up 1.7% to $29.83.
Financials were hit particulary hard, including Royal Bank, down 2% to $51.97, while Manulife Financial declined 0.7% to $11.17.
In the metals and mining group, Teck Resources gained 0.3% to $30.03.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale sales boosted 0.4% in March to $48.7 billion. The agency also reported that foreign holdings in Canadian investments went down $2.1 billion in March, led by debt instruments.
On the other side, Canadian investors acquired the largest amount of foreign securities in nearly five years at $7.8 billion, most of those funds in equities.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 10.33 points to 1,228.07, while the Nasdaq Canada faded 0.15 points to 361.22.
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were in the red by the close, weighed mostly by financials, off 1.6%, metals and mining, down 1.1%, and industrials, trailing Wednesday’s close by 0.9%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by gold’s 6.2% leap, while materials moved higher by 3.9% and information technology picked up 2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were lower for a fifth day Thursday, as investors continued to fret about Greece's future in the euro-zone.
The Dow Jones Industrials closed down 156.06 points, or 1.2%, to 12,442.50
The S&P 500 demurred 16.97 points to 1,307.83. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index capsized 60.35 to 2,813.69.
Retail giants Wal-Mart and Sears Holdings were among the biggest gainers. Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, posted stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and sales.
Rival Sears also reported a profit, even as sales declined, thanks to a boost from selling real estate assets. The retailer also announced it was looking at a partial spinoff of its Canadian operations.
Other retailers due to report results Thursday include Gap and Aeropostale, both due after the closing bell.
Also reporting after the close is Applied Materials, the manufacturer of chip making equipment, whose earnings are forecast to decline.
But the big tech news after the market close will come from Facebook, which is expected to price its initial public offering. Trading will begin Friday.
The social networking site upped the target price range for its stock earlier this week to between $34 and $38 U.S. per share. It announced Wednesday that 25% more shares of the company will be sold than previously announced.
The additional shares, disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could fetch an extra $3 billion U.S. -- bringing the total raised through Facebook's offering to as much as $16 billion U.S., making it the most valuable tech IPO in history.
Shares of JPMorgan Chase fell Thursday, a day after the director of the FBI confirmed his agency had launched an initial investigation into a $2-billion U.S. trading loss suffered by the bank.
Meanwhile, concerns about Greece's future in the euro-zone continued to weigh on investors.
European leaders voiced support Wednesday for keeping Greece in the euro-zone, but cautioned the debt-ridden country must stick with unpopular austerity measures if Greece is going to continue to receive help. A new vote is set for June 17.
Greek voters rebelled against those measures in the May 6 elections, denying the ruling coalition -- which had agreed to the bailout terms -- the votes needed to form a new government. Greek voters will go to the polls again on June 17.
Though the ability to form a governing coalition remains uncertain, the main fear is that an anti-austerity ruling party could cause the bailout deal to unravel, leading to a Greek default and an exit from the euro.
Citing the "heightened risk that Greece may not be able to sustain its membership of Economic and Monetary Union," Fitch Ratings downgraded Greece's credit rating by one notch to CCC.
Adding to those concerns, the European Central Bank has suspended its lending to some Greek banks that need to sufficiently boost their capital.
Meanwhile, a growing number of depositors are withdrawing their money amid worries that their savings could be converted to a devalued currency if Greece drops the euro.
Economically speaking, initial jobless claims were unchanged in the week ended May 12 from the revised figure of 370,000. The number came in weaker than expected.
A Philadelphia Fed report showed that regional manufacturing unexpectedly plunged in May for the first time in eight months. The Philly Fed index fell to -5.8 from 8.5 in April. Economists were expecting the index to increase to 8.8. Any reading below zero indicates weakness.
Elsewhere, the index of leading indicators, which gauges the economy's performance over the next three to six months, was also discouraging. The index fell 0.1% in April, disappointing economists who expected it to rise 0.2%.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, pushing the yield down to 1.70% from Wednesday’s 1.76%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil fell moved back 52 cents to $92.29 U.S.
Gold futures for June delivery rose $37.10 to settle at $1,573.70 U.S. an ounce.
