Stocks in Toronto opened virtually unchanged on Friday, with investors worried about the risk that a U.S. budget showdown will shut down the federal government and potentially lead to a debt default next month.
The S&P/TSX composite index inched down 1.63 points to begin the last session of the week at 12,839.99
The Canadian dollar was lower by 0.06 cents to 96.93 cents U.S.
Shares of BlackBerry Ltd were being closely watched after the smartphone maker, as previously warned, reported a nearly $1-billion quarterly loss on Friday. The stock was ahead nine cents to $8.31 in the first hour of trading.
Enbridge Inc. said on Thursday it will build and operate a new 40,000-barrel-per-day line from the Japan Canada Oil Sands Ltd
Hangingstone oil sands project in northern Alberta to Enbridge's Cheecham terminal. Enbridge shares dipped three cents to $42.93
Ithaca Energy Inc. said CEO Iain McKendrick was stepping down due to personal reasons. Ithaca shares eked up three cents to $2.53.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange surrendered a point to 947.13
Of the 14 Toronto subgroups, gainers and losers were in equal number, as gold surged 1.9%, materials were up 1%, and information technology forged ahead 0.3%.
The seven laggards were global base metals, down 1.2%, metals and mining, off 0.8%, and health-care, lower by 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Political leaders in Washington are not inspiring much confidence lately. And that's keeping investors on the sidelines.
The Dow Jones Industrials opened down 88.37 points to 15,239.90.
The S&P 500 index fell 11.08 points to 1,687.59. The NASDAQ sifted off 11.90 points to 3,775.53
Markets are on track for a losing week. Stocks were up Thursday, but that was after a five-day losing streak.
Shares of new Dow component Nike jumped 6% following quarterly results that beat expectations.
J.C. Penney shares sank 10% on news that the struggling retailer will raise $810 million via a public offering of 84 million shares. While this money will give J.C. Penney a cash cushion for its attempted turnaround, current shareholders will see their stock diluted.
BlackBerry, which announced plans this week to go private, released dismal earnings Friday morning, including a $965-million U.S. quarterly loss. Still, these losses were widely anticipated, since BlackBerry had pre-announced results late last week. The company's stock rose nearly 2%.
A possible government shutdown and a rapidly approaching debt limit could prevent the government from paying all its bills.
But while stocks have stalled a bit lately, investors aren't exactly panicking. The recent slump comes just a week after the Dow and S&P 500 hit record highs. All three major indexes are still up between 17% and 25% for the year.
Most investors expect Congress will strike a last-minute deal to raise the debt limit.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 2.62% from Thursday’s 2.64%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost nine cents to $102.94 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices sprang up $12.80 at $1,336.90 U.S. an ounce.
