The Toronto stock market ended the third quarter of the trading year in negative territory, amid concerns over the European debt situation, though a jump by tech behemoth Research In Motion did provide some encouragement to investors.
The S&P/TSX composite index dipped 21.39 points to end the day, week, month and quarter at 12,317.46
The Canadian dollar eased 0.25 cents to 101.73 cents U.S.
RIM shares shot up 58 cents, or 8.3%, to finish at $7.54.
The Waterloo, Ont.,-based technology company, which reports in U.S. dollars, said after markets closed Thursday that its quarterly loss was $235 million or 45 cents per diluted share compared with a profit of $329 million or 63 cents per share a year ago.
RIM’s adjusted loss was $142 million or 27 cents per share. Experts foresaw that amount as being much worse.
Elsewhere in the sector, Celestica advanced five cents to $7.07.
Other sectors did not fare so well. Industrials, for example, got clobbered, as Stantec Inc. fell more than 3% to $33.50, while Finning International dropped 2.9%.
The base metals sector fell as well, with Sabina Gold and Silver taking the worst of it and falling 4.7% to $3.22. Thompson Creek Metals diminished 3.4% to $2.81.
In the energy sector, Imperial Oil sank 1% to $45.03, while Suncor fell 0.7% to $32.19.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported that Gross Domestic Product grew 0.2% in July, after edging up 0.1% in June.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange grew 12.20 points to 1,334.51
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were off to end the day. Global base metals slid 0.9%, while industrials dipped 0.6% and financials were 0.5% to the bad.
The five gainers were led by information technology, up 1.2%, utilities, gaining 1% and materials, ahead 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Investors were rattled Friday after a report showed manufacturing falling in the United States, but results of stress tests on Spanish banks offered a little relief as the day and week drew to a close.
The Dow Jones Industrial average slipped 48.84 points by the closing bell to 13,437.10
The S&P 500 gave back 6.23 points to 1,440.92, while the tech-rich Nasdaq skipped 20.37 points to 3,116.23
Even with all the recent doom and gloom, U.S. stocks were on track to close out the third quarter with big gains: the Dow was up 4.7%, the S&P 500 was up 5.8% and the Nasdaq had prospered 6.4%. And year-to-date: the Dow is up 10%, the S&P 500 is up 15% and the Nasdaq is up 20%.
In individual company news, Apple boss Tim Cook issued a public apology for errors in its new maps application. Shares of Apple were down nearly 2%.
Bank of America announced a $2.43-billion U.S. settlement in a class action lawsuit for shareholders who questioned the bank's decision to acquire Merrill Lynch. BofA's stock fell about 1.5%.
Shares of the drugstore chain Walgreens lost strength, despite beating analysts' forecasts. Sales and profits were down from a year ago.
Facebook shares rose 7% on news that the company has developed other revenue sources.
Shares of Research in Motion jumped nearly 8%, after the BlackBerry maker reported narrower than expected losses and beat expectations on revenue (see above).
Investors keyed on Europe after the release of Spain’s federal budget on Thursday. The proposed budget boosted U.S. stocks late Thursday, as many interpreted it as a sign the country is willing to take necessary steps to avert a deepening crisis. But that relief may be short-lived as concerns remain real about that country.
On the economic lookout, U.S. personal incomes grew at 0.1% in August -- the same as July. Personal spending rose 0.5%, an improvement over July.
Also, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that core prices of household goods and services rose 0.1% in August, as expected.
The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index for September, a key gauge of manufacturing activity, came in far below expectations and showed a contracting economy for the first time since 2009.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, lowering yields to Thursday’s 1.64%.
Oil prices fell 15 cents to $91.96 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices inched up 40 cents to $1,774.30 U.S. an ounce.
