The Toronto stock market was little changed Thursday afternoon as strong earnings from three of the big Canadian banks were cancelled out by declines in the commodity sectors.
The S&P TSX Composite index -- which had been down as much as 104 points during the day -- regained some of its turf, and picked up 19.22 points to end the session at 10,931.39.
The financial sector ran up after Royal, National and TD Banks all beat expectations.
The energy sector was down as oil prices switched direction to move higher. On the TSX, Suncor Inc. lost 45 cents to $34.37.
Profits at Royal Bank surged 24% during the third quarter of 2009 to $1.6 billion or $1.05 per share for the quarter ended July 31, up from year-earlier net income of $1.3 billion or 92 cents per share.
Excluding one-time items, cash earnings per share totalled $1.21 per share, above analyst estimates of 93 cents a share. Royal Bank said provisions for credit losses increased more than 40% from year-earlier levels to $770 million and its shares ran up $3.36, or 6.3%, to $56.45.
Shares in National Bank of Canada were ahead $2.26, or 3.9%, to $60.77 after it reported that profits increased 6% to $303 million or $1.78 a share during the third quarter of 2009.
And TD Bank Financial Group shares were ahead $1.69 to $67.94 as the bank reported third-quarter net income of $912 million or $1.01 per share, down from year-earlier profits of $997 million or $1.21 per share. Adjusted earnings totalled $1.3 billion or $1.47 per share.
CIBC declined $1.05 to $63.96 on top of Wednesday's drop of $3.64 that followed a disappointing earnings report.
The gold sector ticked higher while the base metals sector was down as Teck Resources moved down 46 cents to $27.12.
Other major stocks pulling Toronto lower included Research In Motion Ltd., down $2.25 to $79.70 and Potash Corp. dropped $1.93 to $100.62.
The Canadian dollar was 1.02 cents stronger to 92.14 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but three of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower. Metals and mining suffered the most, at 1.5%, energy stocks were next worst, at 1.2% and health-care stocks, 0.9% to the bad.
The three gainers were financials, up 1.9%, gold, ahead 0.8%, and utilities, advancing 0.7%.
The TSX Venture Exchange pointed down 3.94 points, to 1,182.15, while the Nasdaq Canada Index lost 6.77 points to 733.54.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks rose Thursday, with the Dow extending its winning streak to eight straight sessions, in a thinly-traded advance fueled by bank shares and Boeing.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 37.11 points to end up at 9,580.63. It’s the longest unbroken string of upward trading days since April 2007.
The S&P 500 index regained 2.86 points to 1,030.98. The Nasdaq composite index tacked on 3.30 points to 2,027.73.
Dell reported weaker sales and earnings that beat expectations, in a profit report that was released minutes before the close of trade, ahead of schedule. Shares gained 6.5% in extended-hours trading.
Stocks ended Wednesday's session with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq at their highest levels since last fall. But investors found few reasons to extend the push Thursday, despite better-than-expected readings on housing and jobless claims. Nonetheless, the early weakness disappeared as the session ran on.
Stocks have essentially risen for the last five months, with the S&P 500 ending Wednesday's session up 52% from the 12-year low it hit on March 9. But the pace of the run, coupled with light August trading volume, has left markets churning over the last two weeks.
Dow components Chevron and Exxon Mobil both posted modest losses after sliding 2% through the early afternoon.
On the upside, shares of AIG rallied 27% after the company's CEO told Reuters that he doesn't support a fire sale of the insurer's assets. New CEO Robert Benmosche said in a year, people will say the bailed-out insurer is performing well. The stock has jumped 274% in August alone.
Other financials rallying included Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Citigroup and Bank of America -- all of which have also received government help. The four have been responsible for much of the trading volume over the last few sessions.
Also in active trading, bond insurer AMBAC Financial jumped 28%, while CIT Group gained 12%.
Dow component Boeing said it will have its long-in-the works 787 Dreamliner in the air by the end of the year and that it will make deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2010. The airplane manufacturer said it will take a non-cash charge of $2.5 billion U.S., or $2.21 U.S. per share, in the third quarter.
Shares rallied 8.7% in afternoon trading.
Toll Brothers reported a quarterly loss of $2.93 U.S. per share, versus a loss of 18 cents U.S. a year ago. The luxury homebuilder was expected to report a loss of $1.79 U.S. per share, according to Briefing.com estimates. Toll Brothers also reported a drop in revenue that nonetheless managed to top estimates.
Better-than-expected economic news -- and a healthy infusion of monetary and fiscal stimulus -- drove the rally. But the latest batch of economic reports has had less of an impact on investor sentiment.
For example, the Labor Department released its weekly report on jobless claims, showing a modest decline to 570,000 claims in the week ended Aug. 22. This is slightly higher than the 565,000 claims that were projected by a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com. It is lower than the revised tally of 580,000 for the prior week.
The Commerce Department provided a revised reading on second-quarter gross domestic product that showed a 1% decline, which is unchanged from the prior reading. This reading is not as bad as the expected 1.5% decline, according to a consensus of economist forecast from Briefing.com.
This is nowhere near as sharp as the 6.4% decline reported in the first quarter.
Treasury prices slid, which upped the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.46% from Wednesday’s 3.43%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil gained $1.06 to $72.73 U.S.
Gold prices picked up $2 at $947 U.S. an ounce.
