The Toronto stock market was lower Tuesday afternoon amid data showing slower-than-expected U.S. home price increases and gold stocks continued to lose their lustre with investors.
The S&P/TSX composite index stumbled 122.45 points to conclude Tuesday at 13,349.77
The Canadian dollar moved forward 0.08 cents to 94.93 cents U.S.
Traders also took in some major deal-making in the sports business.
The National Hockey League has reached a 12-year, $5.2-billion agreement with Rogers Communications for the league's broadcast and multimedia rights. The league says the deal gives Rogers national rights to all NHL games, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Stanley Cup Final, on all of its platforms in all languages.
As part of the deal, CBC will continue to air Hockey Night in Canada and the TVA network in Quebec gets the Canadian French-language multi-media rights. Rogers shares fell 55 cents to $46.23.
The energy sector shed some of its strength and Imperial Oil was down 73 cents to $44.99
The gold sector fell once again. The sector has registered steep declines in 2013, down almost 50% year-to-date as gold prices have also fallen amid speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve is set to taper its monthly $85 billion U.S. of bond purchases, which have kept rates low and supported a stock market rally. Also, inflation is very low in many parts of the world.
Goldcorp faded 70 cents to $23.51.
December copper was down one cent at $3.21 U.S. a pound and the base metals sector was off one per cent. Teck Resources declined 55 cents to $25.52.
Financials were also a weight, with TD Bank down $1.14 to $96.71.
In other corporate developments, international convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. had $229.8 million U.S. of net income in its fiscal second quarter, up 26.8% from a year ago.
Ex-items, the Montreal-area company had $249 million U.S. of net income or $1.32 U.S. per share, up from 91 cents per share a year earlier and 10 cents ahead of analyst estimates.
Couche-Tard also announced its quarterly dividend will go up about 14% to 10 cents per share on Dec. 19. Its shares were $2.19 higher at $76.17 after earlier hitting an all-time high of $77.
Montreal-based IT services firm CGI Group will acquire about 2.5 million of its shares being sold by one of its biggest investors, the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec.
The Caisse is selling a total of 9.96 million CGI shares for $40.15 and will still own more than 58 million shares or 18.7% of CGI. CGI shares were down $1.02 at $39.70 Tuesday afternoon.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 0.66 points to finish Tuesday at 928.60
All but two of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower, leaning mostly on gold, down 2.5%, while metals and mining gave back 1.6% and materials slid 1.4%.
The two gainers were consumer staples, forging ahead 0.1%, while health-care stocks moved tenaciously up 0.04%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were in the pre-holiday doldrums Tuesday. Volume was light. But the market continued its record run and shares of a number of major retailers were on the move ahead of Black Friday.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ index closed above 4,000 for the first time in 13 years.
The Dow Jones Industrials added 0.26 points from Monday’s all-time high, to 16,072.80
The S&P 500 index gained 0.27 points to 1,802.75. The NASDAQ added 23.18 points to 4,017.75
U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving and will shut at 1 p.m. ET on Friday.
After the market closed, Hewlett-Packard reported quarterly earnings that topped analysts' forecasts and issued an upbeat outlook for full-year profits. CEO Meg Whitman said the company's turnaround remains on track, but she acknowledged that there is "much work to do." Shares rose sharply in extended trading.
Tiffany & Co. shares soared to an all-time high after the jewelry retailer said sales and earnings surged in the third quarter, driven by strong demand in China.
Shares of struggling retailer J.C. Penney also rose after CEO Mike Ullman spent $1 million U.S. to buy 112,000 shares, according to a regulatory filing.
The move seemed to boost confidence in J.C. Penney's turnaround plan. The worst performing stock in the S&P 500 this year, J.C. Penney has bounced back 25% in the past month.
There was a new twist in the ongoing Men's Warehouse saga. Shares of Jos. A. Bank surged after Men's Wearhouse offered to buy the rival suit seller for $1.5 billion U.S. The offer comes weeks after Jos. A Banks made a hostile takeover bid for Men's Warehouse, which is also facing a proxy fight by its largest shareholder.
Barnes & Noble shares fell after the bookseller reported disappointing quarterly results as sales of the Nook e-reader continue to plunge.
Shares of major residential construction companies rose following strong reports on the housing market. Lennar, D.R. Horton both gained about 4%.
Economically speaking, consumer confidence fell in November, following a sharp drop in October, according to a closely watched index from the Conference Board.
Reports on housing suggest that the real estate market may be losing some momentum, although it remains stronger than last year.
Home prices continued to climb in third quarter, rising 11% from a year earlier, according to the Case-Shiller index of prices in 20 cities. However, the quarter-over-quarter gain slowed to 3%, compared with the second quarter, when prices jumped 7%.
Separately, applications for building permits rose 6.2% in October, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries moved ahead, lowering yields to 2.70% from Monday’s 2.74%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices eased 25 cents to $93.84 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $1.80 to $1,243 U.S. an ounce.
