The Toronto stock market was slightly lower Tuesday as traders digested positive U.S. housing and durable goods data.
The S&P/TSX index was down 19.72 points to break for lunch Tuesday at 12,660.99
The Canadian dollar improved 0.41 cents to 98.30 cents U.S.
The TSX gold sector lost strength as Barrick Gold Corp. faded 36 cents to $29.27.
The base metals sector slipped, even as May copper gained two cents to $3.47 U.S. a pound. HudBay Minerals dipped 15 cents to $9.50.
The declines in mining stocks carried on a pattern that has been going on for months, reflecting tepid emerging market economies and weak commodity prices.
The energy sector was slightly lower as Imperial Oil moved down 25 cents to $41.96.
Telecoms led advancers as BCE Inc. grew 33 cents to $46.83.
The tech sector was also positive, with BlackBerry up 18 cents, or 1.2%, at $14.69 following a string of stock price declines over uncertainty about how well the new Z10 smartphone is catching on in the U.S.
The financial sector was little changed as the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions has identified Canada’s six largest banks as systemically important to the country.
And as a result, Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank will be subject to enhanced disclosure and a one per cent risk-weighted capital surcharge by Jan. 1, 2016.
Mega Brands Inc. plans to significantly reduce its outstanding debt by having some of its investors either buy more shares or exchange debt securities for shares on a cashless basis.
The Montreal-based company says it expects the outstanding principle of debentures will be lowered by $62.4 million, reducing pre-tax cash interest expenses for Mega Brands by about $6.2 million annually. Its stock rose 51 cents to $14.31.
No economic data was due for release Tuesday in Canada.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 6.41 points midday to 1,096.94
The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and losers, the former half led by telecoms and utilities, each up 0.5%, while the consumer discretionary sector added 0.3%.
The seven laggards were weighed mostly by gold and material stocks, each off 1.3%, while metals and mining dipped 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks bounced back Tuesday, as investors welcomed better-than-expected reports on home prices and durable goods.
The Dow Jones Industrials remained positive 69.16 points – off its highs of the morning -- to greet noon ET Tuesday at 14,516.90
The S&P 500 index gathered 7.72 points to 1,559.41. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite gained 5.97 points to 3,241.27.
Shares of Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase edged higher in early trading Tuesday.
Children's Place reported that sales and profit jumped in 2012. But the company also issued a weak forecast for the first quarter of 2013, citing "the unfavorable weather and weak macro-economic environment." The stock dropped almost 2% in early trading.
In other corporate news, Boeing completed the first test flight for its troubled 787 Dreamliner since redesigning the aircraft's battery system.
On the U.S. economic front, The S&P Case-Shiller index showed that home prices rose 8.1% in January from a year ago, marking the biggest year-over-year gain in prices since June 2006.
The U. S. Census Bureau reported that durable goods orders rose 5.7% in February, more than expected. But excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.5%, a bigger drop than expected.
What’s more, the Conference Board's consumer confidence index came in at 59.7 in March, which was below expectations and lower than February's reading. But a reading above 50 reflects overall optimism.
Internationally, Cyprus' banks will remain closed until Thursday to give regulators time to guard against a run on deposits. Some form of capital controls will be applied when the banks eventually reopen.
The island nation agreed early Monday to raise billions of euros from big depositors at the Bank of Cyprus and Popular Bank of Cyprus, and shrink its banking sector, in return for a €10-billion European Union bailout.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained strength, lowering yields back to Monday’s 1.91%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 92 cents to $95.49 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $5.30 to $1,598.60 U.S. an ounce.
