Canada's main stock index edged lower on Wednesday, led by a decline in Barrick Gold Corp, the world's largest gold producer, after the release of disappointing earnings from the its African subsidiary.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 13.74 points to close the session at 12,775.28
The Canadian dollar poked ahead 0.06 cents to 99.83 cents U.S.
A 2.2% drop in shares of Thomson Reuters Corp also weighed on the index after its revenue forecast for 2013 failed to impress analysts, though quarterly operating profit grew 2% due to cost cutting efforts. The stock traded at $30.06.
Declines in the prices for Barrick and Thomson offset a 1.8% rise in shares of Talisman Energy Inc, which reported a quarterly profit on gains from asset sales. Talisman closed at $12.78.
The market was supported by a rise in the financial sector. Royal Bank of Canada gained 0.4% to $63.28. Bank of Nova Scotia rose 0.4% to $58.80.
Barrick Gold, which dropped 2.6% to $31.70, was key in dragging the market lower after African Barrick Gold, in which it owns a majority stake, said production would shrink for a fifth straight year and that it would focus
on reining in soaring costs.
A slew of gold producers is due to report quarterly earnings, with Toronto-based Kinross Gold Corp later on Wednesday, and both Barrick Gold and Goldcorp Inc on Thursday.
Other major companies that will report results this week include Encana Corp and Sun Life Financial Inc
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange remained positive 5.29 points to 1,204.23
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups remained higher on the day. Health-care had the biggest gain at 1.2%, while global base metals garnered 0.4%, and utilities improved 0.3%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed down mostly by information technology, down 3.5%, gold, off 1.7%, and materials, sliding 1.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were mixed Wednesday as investors weighed more earnings reports and the latest figures on retail sales.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 35.79 points to end Wednesday trading at 13,982.90
The S&P 500 index crawled up 0.63 points to 1,520.06. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite gained 10.38 points to 3,196.88
Consumer-oriented stocks were the main drag on the Dow after the government said retail sales slowed in January. McDonalds fell 1.5% and Coca Cola was down 0.9%.
General Electric was the best performing blue chip. Shares rose 3.3% after the industrial conglomerate said late Tuesday it would sell its remaining stake in NBCUniversal to cable company Comcast.
Shares of Comcast rose 4%, making it one of the top gainers on the NASDAQ.
Stocks have had a strong run so far this year. The Dow is about 1% away from its record high set in October 2007. The S&P 500 has also had a solid run, coming within 4% of its record high, also set in October 2007.
On the corporate front, Deere reported quarterly earnings that topped expectations. But the farm equipment maker said economic uncertainty and government policy are "undermining business confidence and restraining growth."
Cisco Systems reports results after the close.
Shares of Groupon jumped 7% after Sterne Agee upgraded the company to "buy" from "neutral" and gave Groupon's stock a $9 price target.
Trulia shares climbed 26% after reporting better-than-expected sales. The news helped give shares of Trulia rival Zillow a boost.
Shares of Cliffs Natural Resources dropped 19% after the mining company announced plans to sell stock and was downgraded by several analysts.
Overall, 65% of the companies in the S&P 500 that have reported fourth-quarter earnings have beat analysts' expectations, according to S&P Capital IQ. But the bulk of companies that have issued guidance for the first quarter have had a negative outlook.
Meanwhile, the latest economic data were not encouraging. The Census Bureau reported that retail sales inched up 0.1% in January, following a 0.5% rise in the previous month.
The sales growth was in line with expectations, but underscores the limited pricing power U.S. companies have as the economy remains weak, according to some experts.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell back, raising yields to 2.02% from Tuesday’s 1.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped 40 cents to $97.11 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices deducted $6.50 to $1,643.10 U.S. an ounce.
