The Toronto stock market was lower Thursday, as energy and mining stocks backed off amid data that showed worsening economic conditions in Europe.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 44.24 points to greet noon at 12,731.04
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.06 cents to 99.9 cents U.S.
The euro-zone reportedly slipped deeper into recession in the last quarter of 2012 after the French and German economies shrank markedly at the end of the year.
The euro-zone has now contracted for three straight quarters, weighed down by weak, debt-laden countries such as Greece and Spain, where governments have been aggressively increasing taxes and cutting spending.
The energy sector declined Canadian Natural Resources dropped 29 cents to $31.51.
Cenovus Energy posted a net loss of $118 million or 16 cents per share, a big turnaround from the year-earlier profit of $266 million or 35 cents per share. Cash flow fell to $697 million or 92 cents per share, down from $851 million or $1.12 per share.
The company’s chief executive said last month that the low price that Alberta producers can get for their oil, relative to other types of crude, including West Texas Intermediate, is causing a major problem for the industry and Canada. Cenovus shares declined 82 cents to $31.78.
The base metals sector was down while copper for March delivery on the Nymex was unchanged at $3.74 U.S. a pound. Turquoise Hill Resources gave back eight cents to $7.45.
The industrials sector was also a drag as flight simulator company CAE Inc. fell 31 cents to $10.27.
The gold sector advanced. Barrick Gold Corp. is cutting or delaying $4 billion U.S. in previously budgeted capital spending and writing down the value of its copper business unit by $4.2 billion U.S. after taxes. Toronto-based Barrick made the announcement as it posted a $3.06-billion net loss in the fourth quarter and its shares gained $1.33 or 4.2% to $33.05.
Kinross Gold Corp. reported a quarterly net loss of $2.99 billion, or $2.62 per share, compared with a net loss of $2.79 billion, or $2.45 per share in the year-earlier period. On an adjusted basis, Kinross reported net earnings of $276.5 million, or 24 cents per share, which beat analyst estimates by a penny.
Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.186 billion, less than the $1.23 billion that analysts had expected. The miner also cut its capital expenditures for 2013 compared with 2012 and its shares gained 44 cents to $8.35.
The tech sector was up with BlackBerry up 26 cents to $14.26, a day after dropping more than 8% as the shine continued to wear off from the company’s smartphone product launch two weeks ago. Shares had been negative earlier in the session when it was revealed that former CEO James Balsillie no longer owns a stake in the company.
The rest of the sector was weak with Celestica down seven cents to $8.05.
In other earnings news, Sun Life Financial reported after markets closed Wednesday that its quarterly earnings were $395 million, or 65 cents per share, compared with a loss of $525 million, or 90 cents per share, a year ago.
Operating earnings, which excludes items that the company believes are not ongoing, came in at 76 cents per share, outdoing analyst expectations of 63 cents per share, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters. Its shares were down 92 cents to $29.08.
RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it is in the process of selling 14 Canadian properties worth about $645 million. The Toronto-based outlet, plaza and shopping mall operator also announced a net profit of $468 million or $1.55 per common unit in the fourth quarter.
That was up from $241 million or 87 cents per unit a year earlier and far above the consensus estimate of 56 cents per unit and it added 18 cents to $27.59.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange shed 6.84 points to 1,197.44
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups listed lower by noon, as energy stocks subsided 1.4%, health-care issues sank 0.8%, and utilities dipped 0.7%.
The four gainers were led by gold, up 1.2%, information technology, clicking 1% higher, and materials, ahead 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks straddled the breakeven line Thursday, as gloomy news about Europe's economy dampened the impact of better-than-expected jobless claims and two big M&A deals.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 9.63 points to greet midday at 13,973.30
The S&P 500 index sagged 0.74 points to 1,519.59. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite inched up 0.31 points to 3,197.19
Thursday brought a slew of merger news.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital agreed to buy Heinz for $28 billion U.S. Shares of the ketchup-maker spiked 20%. Shares of fellow food company Campbell Soup jumped 4%.
US Airways and American Airlines parent AMR officially announced an $11-billion U.S. deal to create the world's largest airline. Shares of US Airways dipped.
In earnings news Thursday, General Motors released quarterly results that missed expectations, sending shares lower. PepsiCo shares gained after the beverage maker logged better-than-expected earnings.
Cisco shares declined 1%, dragging on the Dow, after Cisco CEO John Chambers took a cautious tone with his outlook as the company reported earnings roughly in line with forecasts. Shares of Mondelez sank almost 3% after the food producer logged earnings that missed expectations after the close on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, 65% of the companies in the S&P 500 that had reported fourth-quarter earnings came in ahead of analysts' expectations, according to S&P Capital IQ. But the bulk of companies that have issued guidance for the first quarter had a negative outlook.
In other corporate news, shares of Constellation Brands surged 35% after Anheuser-Busch InBev agreed to give up key assets in an effort to address antitrust issues related to is proposed takeover of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo.
Early Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department reported that the number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment claims fell by 27,000 to 341,000 in the latest week. Economists were expecting 365,000 claims.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury sagged a bit, lifting yields to 2.04% from Wednesday’s 2.02%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked 43 cents to $97.44 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices skidded $2.30 to $1,642.80 U.S. an ounce.
