Markets in Toronto dropped to a one-week low on Thursday as a slump in bullion prices hit shares of gold miners and concerns about the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy direction weighed on broader sentiment.
The S&P/TSX composite index dipped 82.75 points to 12,742.67
The Canadian dollar was down 0.03 cents to 96.88 cents U.S.
The materials sector, which includes mining stocks, declined along with gold producers such as Goldcorp Inc., which fell 5.2% to $27.12.
Barrick Gold Corp slipped 4.4% to $18.35. The two stocks had the biggest negative influence on the market.
Silver Wheaton Corp declined 3.9% to $25.15.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, gave back strength as Bank of Canada stumbled 0.5% to $65.84.
But higher oil prices pushed up shares of energy companies. Suncor Energy Inc added 0.6% to $36.89, and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd gained 0.7% to $32.98.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported this morning that its new housing price index rose 0.2% in July, following an identical increase the previous month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 4.25 points to hit midday at 939.98
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower at the lunch break, that one holdout being energy stocks, up 0.3%.
Laggards were weighed by gold, down 3.7%, materials, off 2.8%, and metals and mining, down 2.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The September rally is losing some steam after recent gains have pushed major indexes close to record levels.
The Dow Jones Industrials greeted noon down 31.70 points to 15,294.90.
The S&P 500 index dipped 3.09 points to 1,686.04. The NASDAQ dropped 7.06 points to 3,717.95
Prior to the day's dip, the S&P 500 had enjoyed a seven-day rally that had lifted the broad index within 1.2% of its all-time high. The Dow is just 2% from its record high, while the NASDAQ continues to trade near 13-year highs.
Yoga-wear producer lululemon announced a jump in quarterly sales and profit, but shares slumped as the company lowered its guidance for the year.
Shares in Men's Wearhouse sank after the company reported disappointing quarterly earnings on Wednesday.
On the bright side, shares of grocery chain Kroger moved higher on rising earnings and better-than-expected sales.
Pandora's stock jumped after the online radio company named former aQuantive chief and Microsoft executive Brian McAndrews as its new CEO.
Facebook shares opened at a fresh all-time high Thursday, a day after topping $45 U.S. for the first time since its first day of turbulent trading on May 18, 2012.
Speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt Wednesday evening, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company is better off for having gone through its rocky IPO.
Shares of Apple rose slightly a day after billionaire investor Carl Icahn said he boosted his stake in the company as shares tumbled more than 5% Wednesday due to disappointment with the two new iPhones.
But it wasn't all good news for tech stocks. Netflix shares sank after analysts at Morgan Stanley and BTIG downgraded the stock amid worries about the company's valuation. Shares of Netflix have rallied more than 200% in 2013, and are trading at more than 90 times 2014 earnings forecasts.
Investors continue to remain wary about the U.S. Federal Reserve, which could decide to cut back on its quantitative easing program this month. The Fed has previously indicated that it was considering scaling back on this massive, liquidity-boosting program, which has supported a big rally in stock markets around the world.
On the economic front, the government's weekly report showed that first-time claims for unemployment benefits dropped sharply to 292,000 -- their lowest level since early 2006. But the U.S. Labor Department noted that two states did not report complete data last week, which skewed the total figure.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury spiked, lowering yields to 2.88% from Wednesday’s 2.92%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.10 to $108.66 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slumped $33.90 at $1,329.90 U.S. an ounce.
