The Toronto stock market drifted around the unchanged mark mid-afternoon Friday as buying sentiment was blunted by growing concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve is set to start reducing its monetary stimulus.
The S&P/TSX composite index fought tenaciously into positive territory, gaining 11.31 points to end the day and the week at 13,125.70
The Canadian dollar gathered 0.43 cents to 94.41 cents U.S.
The consumer discretionary sector was a big advancer, with retailers Reitmans ahead 28 cents to $6.24 while Dollarama gained 53 cents to $85.03.
The much battered gold sector, down 50% for the year, was well off early levels, but still up, as Barrick Gold rose 28 cents to $17.76.
Telecoms were weak after the CRTC announced it will look at wholesale rates charged to small wireless firms by the big players including Rogers, Bell and Telus.
The federal telecom regulator wants to know if big players are putting these small players at an unfair disadvantage with the wholesale roaming rates they charge. Rogers shed 62 cents to $47.02.
The energy sector was off as Suncor Energy shed 20 cents to $35.80.
The base metals sector was also slightly lower even as March copper was up two cents at $3.31 U.S. a pound.
Traders also digested comments by Chinese leaders that the world's second-largest economy faces "downward pressure" and have called for boldness in carrying out promised reforms aimed at reviving slowing growth.
In a report following an annual planning meeting, Communist party leaders said Friday that the country faces problems including excess production capacity in some industries and environmental degradation.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 8.38 points to 894.47
All but four of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher by day’s end, led by health-care, up 1.4%, consumer discretionary stocks, gaining 0.6%, and utilities, forging ahead 0.5%.
The four laggards were telecoms, down 0.7%, while industrials and the metals and mining group each slid 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were up only slightly Friday as investors remain sidelined ahead of next week's U.S. Federal Reserve meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 15.93 points to 15,755.36
The S&P 500 index dropped 0.18 points to 1,775.32. The NASDAQ finished higher 2.58 points to 4,000.98
Twitter shares were up about 2%, extending a run this week that has pushed the stock up nearly 30%. Some traders say Twitter is currently a favorite among big institutional investors and the rally will continue as long as they keep buying.
Others said the runup was due to a so-called short squeeze, which is when investors rush to buy back shares of a company to unwind bets the stock would fall.
Adobe shares jumped after the software company reported sales Thursday that came in ahead of expectations. The stock is up 58% so far this year and at least one trader expects Adobe's business to continue growing.
Qualcomm named chief operating officer Steve Mollenkopf as its next CEO, succeeding Dr. Paul Jacobs, who will remain as executive chairman.
Mollenkopf's name was recently tossed around as a possible successor to Steve Ballmerat Microsoft.
Electronic Arts and GameStop shares rallied after industry research group NDP said video game hardware sales jumped in November. Sony and Microsoft both recently unveiled new game consoles for the holiday season.
Shares of petroleum company Anadarko were down sharply after a court ruled that it and its Kerr-McGee unit acted improperly in its 2005 spinoff of paint materials company Tronox. The judge said that the company should pay for environmental cleanup.
Stocks have surged this year, but the rally has faltered in December. The major gauges, which are up between 20% and 32% so far this year, are on track to end lower for the week.
The recent retreat comes amid speculation that the Fed could begin cutting back, or tapering, its $85-billion-U.S.-per-month bond-buying program when it wraps up its final policy meeting of the year on Dec. 18.
But some strategists say the economy is still too weak for the Fed to start removing its support, despite the recent improvement in hiring.
The latest inflation data could bolster those who say the Fed is unlikely to act this month. Producer prices fell 0.1% in November, according to the Commerce Department. The Fed's target for consumer price inflation is 2%, and some economists say the central bank is more concerned about deflation than the size of its balance sheet.
Meanwhile, the bond market is on track to have its worst year in history. Investors have pulled out $72 billion U.S. from bond mutual funds this year through the first week of December, the biggest annual outflow on record.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were slightly higher, lowering yields to 2.87% from Thursday’s 2.88%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 99 cents to $96.51 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices surged $11.30 to $1,236.20 U.S. an ounce.
