Toronto indexes were lower Wednesday, as traders digested a number of negative reports in the U.S. and Canada related to manufacturing and industrial production.
The S&P/TSX composite index let go of 66.13 points to greet noon at 12,510.92
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.08 cents to 98.31 cents U.S.
Gold stocks led the way down in Toronto, as Argonaut Gold took a 4.2% tumble to $6.40, and Barrick Gold got bruised 2.7% to $20.30.
Metals stocks also took a hit, what with Rio Alto Mining’s stunning 7.3% collapse to $3.30, and Taseko Mines’ loss of 4.4% to $2.17.
Telecoms also took it on the chin, due mostly to a loss of 2.3% by Rogers Communications to $48.78.
In the economic docket today, national home sales declined 2.1% in February, according to statistics released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association, and 15.8% below levels for February 2012.
Statistics Canada reported this morning that manufacturing sales dropped 3% to $49.5 billion in March, the third decline in four months.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 4.66 points to 945.21
All 14 Toronto subgroups were lower by noon, weighed by the gold sector, stumbling 2.7%, materials, down 1.5%, and the metals and mining group, off 1.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Wall Street recovered by noon hour Wednesday, as investors absorbed, and appeared to shrug off, a sour batch of economic news.
The Dow Jones Industrials climbed 68.66 points to 15,283.90.
The S&P 500 index regained 8.39 points to 1,658.73, while the NASDAQ Composite took on 11.29 points to 3,473.90
While earnings season is nearly over, results from a few big names continue to trickle in. Macy's stock edged up after the retailer reported a gain in quarterly profit, revenue and same-store sales. Macy's also boosted its quarterly dividend by 25% and announced a $1.5-billion U.S. increase to its share buyback plan.
In other earnings news, John Deere posted a better-than-expected profit for the second quarter but shares of the heavy equipment manufacturer tumbled after it cut its sales forecast for the year.
Cisco earnings are up after the bell.
Google kicks off its annual developer's conference Wednesday. The company is expected to unveil a paid subscription music-streaming service according to news reports.
Shares of the tech giant topped $900 U.S. for the first time Wednesday, climbing as high as $911.76 U.S. Google's market value also jumped above $300 billion U.S. for the first time in history.
Internationally, France slipped back into recession after a 0.2% decline in Gross Domestic Product for the first quarter of 2013, Germany's economy expanding by 0.1% over the same period.
Economically, the Producer Price Index dropped 0.7% in April -- its biggest decline since February 2010, signaling that inflation remains weak.
However, a report on the manufacturing sector was disappointing. In May, the Empire State manufacturing survey fell into negative territory for the first time since January. Economists were looking for activity to improve.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury slid, raising yields to 1.97% from Tuesday’s 1.95%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices doffed 70 cents to $93.51 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jettisoned $30.20 at $1,394.30 U.S. an ounce
