Canada's main stock index hit a two-week low on Thursday, weighed down by Potash Corp. after weak fourth-quarter results and by other resource stocks, which slipped along with commodity prices as investors worried about global growth.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index erased 109.20 points to greet the close Thursday at 12,685.24
The Canadian dollar moved higher 0.41 cents, back above parity with its American counterpart at 100.27 cents U.S.
Potash, the world's biggest fertilizer company, reported a surprisingly large drop in fourth-quarter profit and gave a first-quarter outlook below Wall Street's forecast. The stock declined 66 cents, or 1.5%, to $42.53.
Research In Motion Ltd shares dived yet again, falling 80 cents, or 5.8%, to $13.06, the day after the BlackBerry maker released a new line of phones, as its release dates disappointed.
Among gold issues, Goldcorp Inc was down 84 cents, or 2.3%, to $35.19.
The energy sector dropped, with Canadian Natural Resources Ltd falling 95 cents, or 3.1%, to $30.22 and playing one of the biggest roles in leading the market lower.
Financials, the index's weightiest sector, were down as well. Royal Bank of Canada fell 0.6% to $62.20, and Bank of Nova Scotia lost 15 cents to $58.72.
In the one sector that showed any kind of improvement, telecoms, Telus strengthened 98 cents, or 1.5%, to $67.23.
Among Thursday’s economic data, Statistics Canada reported that the economy forged slightly ahead in November, growing 0.3%, adding on a 0.1% hike in October, The nation’s number crunchers noted that most major industrial sectors increased production in November.
StatsCan also said that lower crude oil prices resulted in a Raw Materials Price Index sinking 2.0%, in December, while industrial product prices were flat compared to October.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange docked 1.04 points to 1,220.43
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were negative Thursday, as gold stumbled 1.5%, materials took a header of 1.3%, and information technology sputtered 1.1%.
The lone stalwart proved to be telecoms, eking up but 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were mixed Thursday, backing away from record highs, as concerns about the economy weighed on the market at the end of a strong month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 49.84 points by the close to 13,860.60
The S&P 500 backtracked 1.84 points to 1,500.12. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite handed back 10.18 points to 3,142.13
Despite the weakness on Thursday, stocks have started the year with a bang.
The Dow is up more than 6% so far in January, and is just 2% shy of its record high, reached in October 2007. The S&P 500 has climbed 5% this month, and is only 5% away from its all-time high, also from October 2007. Meanwhile, the NASDAQ, which is a far cry from its all-time high, has gained 4% this month.
In corporate news Thursday, shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev fell 6% after the U.S. Justice Department moved to block the beverage giant's merger with Groupo Modelo, the leading brewer in Mexico.
Groupo Modelo shares, which trade over the counter in the United States, were down 6%. Elsewhere in the alcohol sector, shares of Constellation Brands, which distributes Modelo-brewed beers in the U.S. market, sank nearly 19%.
Shares of UPS declined after the shipping giant's fourth-quarter earnings came in below of forecasts. The company's guidance for 2013 was also weaker than expected.
Shares of Dow Chemical also declined on an earnings miss.
Facebook shares dropped after the firm said late Wednesday that its fourth-quarter mobile user growth had slowed slightly versus the third quarter. Facebook's fourth-quarter earnings and sales beat Wall Street estimates.
Of the 200 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 136 have beaten analysts' estimates, according to some news sources. Overall, earnings are expected to be up 5.1% for the quarter.
PulteGroup reported a four-fold increase in quarterly earnings and said new orders jumped 27%. Despite the strong results, shares of Pulte fell 4%, weighing down shares of other homebuilders. Hovnanian and Lennar were also under pressure.
Meanwhile, shares of TRI Pointe Homes surged 13% after the company made its debut as a public company.
On the economic front, the U.S. government reported a jump in initial jobless claims following two weeks of declines. Claims rose 38,000 to 368,000 in the latest week. Analysts were expecting 345,000 claims.
Separately, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported the number of planned job cuts surged 24% to 40,430 in January.
Those figures are worrying ahead of the all-important monthly jobs report due Friday. Analysts are expecting that employers added 180,000 jobs in January, and that the unemployment rate ticked down to 7.7% from 7.8% in December.
Meanwhile, personal income in December rose 2.6%, while spending inched up 0.2%, according to the Commerce Department.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 2.00% from Wednesday 2.01%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 43 cents to $97.51 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices subtracted $16 to $1,663.90 U.S. an ounce.
