Toronto stocks ended the day and the week with a last-hour rally, taking the main index into positive territory after spending much of Friday in the dungeon.
Shortly before the closing bell the S&P/TSX Composite Index had surged 22.45 points, to 10,848.01, after being in the hole as much as 1% at some points of the trading day.
Mining stocks plummeted, as copper fell on the Comex. Teck Resources was off 3.4% to $28.79, Inmet slid 3.1% to $46.89 and First Quantum faded 1.7% to $68.22.
However, FNX Mining gained 4.9% to $9.83 after the company posted net earnings for the second quarter of $12.5 million or $0.14 per share, higher than $11.3 million or $0.13 per share in the prior-year period.
TransAtlantic Petroleum Corp. inched up 1% to $3.01 after the company reported second quarter net loss widened to $7.1 million U.S. or $0.04 U.S. per share from $920,000 U.S. or $0.01 U.S. per share in the previous year.
Aurizon Mines gained 3.9% to $4.53 after the company announced that its second-quarter net earnings of $13.6 million or $0.08 per share, compared to earnings of $5.6 million or $0.04 per share, in the same period of 2008.
In other corporate news, SNC-Lavalin dropped 1.7% to $49.16 after the company said it has purchased 48% of the common shares of Russia-based engineering company OAO VNIPIneft.
EnGlobe Corp. surged 22.2% to 11 cents, after the company reported a net net loss from continuing operations for the second quarter of $1.8 million, compared to a net loss of $22.5 million in the year-ago quarter.
Sierra Minerals declined 4.8% to 20 cents after the company reported net earnings for the second quarter of $0.30 million U.S. or breakeven per share, compared to loss of $42 million U.S. or $0.01 U.S. per share in the previous-year quarter.
First Majestic Silver Corp. slipped 3.4% to $2.26 after the company reported net income for the second quarter of $1 million, compared to a loss of $300,000 in the year-ago quarter.
In economic news, Canadian new motor vehicle sales fell 0.6% in June, compared to a 1% rise in May. Sales were expected to drop 1%. Meanwhile, manufacturing shipments were unexpectedly up 1.9% in June, compared to a 6% drop in the previous month. A 0.3% decline was forecast.
The Canadian dollar was slumped 0.93 cents, at 90.97 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, eight were in negative territory, led lower by global base metals, off 1.8%, metals and mining stocks, down 1.5% and materials, trailing 1.2%.
The half-a-dozen gainers were led by telecoms, up 1%, consumer discretionaries, ahead 0.9% and information technology and health-care, tied at 0.7%.
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 7.08 points, to 1,193.42, while the Nasdaq Canada Index was still in the black 5.68 points to 728.18.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, equities tumbled Friday, after a weaker-than-expected consumer sentiment report sparked a mass exodus following a big rally.
The Dow Jones Industrials came off its lows, but still finished behind 76.79 points, to bid farewell to the week at 9,321.40. The S&P 500 index skidded 8.64 points to 1,004.09. The Nasdaq composite index gave back 23.83 points to 1,985,52.
Stock declines were broad based, with all but one of the Dow's 30 components falling. The biggest losers were Boeing, IBM, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, McDonald's and 3M.
Stocks began the session slightly lower, as investors shrugged off reports that supported hopes for an economic recovery, including a mild reading on inflation and signs that factory production has started to pick up.
Colonial BancGroup may have found a buyer for part or all of its assets in BB&T Corp, according to reports. Earlier a judge ruled in favor of Bank of America in a suit looking to bar Colonial, which is on the verge of collapse, from transferring or liquidating $1 billion U.S. in assets.
Shares of Colonial BancGroup, a Southern regional bank, slumped 12% before being halted. BB&T shares gained 7%. BofA shares were down 1%.
Retailer Abercrombie & Fitch reported a fiscal second-quarter loss versus a year-ago profit due to weak sales, higher costs and more markdowns. The loss was steeper than expected. The teen clothing retailer also reported weaker revenue that topped estimates. Shares gained 4% Friday.
J.C. Penney reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss Friday, but also issued a current-year forecast that is lower than what many analysts were expecting. Shares fell 6%.
The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index dipped to 63.2 in August from 66 in late July. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought it would rise to 69.
Stocks ended the previous session at new 2009 highs, but are flat for the week after a four-week advance.
A more optimistic view from the Federal Reserve trumped weaker retail sales Thursday, but investors continue to look for signs of a recovery.
Between hitting a bottom on March 9 and Thursday's close, the S&P 500 rose over 50%, making stocks vulnerable to a retreat Friday.
Other economic reports Friday pointed to the ending of the recession that the Federal Reserve alluded to earlier in the week. Industrial production, a measure of factory output, rose 0.5% in July after falling 0.4% in the previous month. It was the first rise in nine months and could indicate that manufacturing is bottoming. Economists thought it would rise 0.4%.
Capacity utilization rose to 68.5% from 68.1% in June. Economists thought it would rise to 68.3%.
Elsewhere, the Consumer Price Index, a measure of consumer inflation, was unchanged in July, as expected. CPI rose 0.7% in June. The so-called core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.1%, as expected. Core CPI rose 0.2% in June.
Treasury prices inched ahead, marginally lowering the yields on the 10-year note to 3.57%, from Thursday’s 3.59%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil subsided $3.01 to $67.55 U.S.
Gold prices headed south $8 to $949 U.S. an ounce.
