The Toronto stock market racked up more losses Thursday despite better-than-expected figures on GDP and jobless claims from the U.S.
The S&P/TSX composite index greeted noon dipped 29.30 points at 14,154.80
The Canadian dollar gained 0.33 cents at 90.41 cents U.S.
Smartphone maker BlackBerry saw its shares slide more than 3%, or 34 cents, to $9.81 by mid-day as it prepared to report its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings Friday.
The struggling Waterloo, Ont., tech company has been revising its business for the past year to stay competitive against the likes of Apple and Samsung.
Financials dropped as Bank of Nova Scotia shed 0.6% to $64.29, and Manulife Financial Corp gave back 0.3% to $21.35.
The materials sector, which includes mining stocks, climbed as Goldcorp added 1.5% to $27.59, and Barrick Gold rose 1.4% to $20.08.
With oil prices rising, energy shares advanced. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd jumped 2% to $42.16, and Suncor Energy Inc was up 0.9% at $36.94.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange tumbled 17.95 points to 985.30
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were negative by noon hour, weighed mostly by information technology, down 1.2%, health-care, off 1.1%, and industrials, sliding 0.7%.
The five gainers were led higher by energy, hiking 0.9%, telecoms, popping 0.7%, and utilities, ahead 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Banks were among the biggest losers Wednesday as investors searched for a reason to drive stocks higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off its morning lows, but still negative 12.19 points midday to 16,256.80. The S&P 500 index was off 4.66 points to 1,847.90. The NASDAQ stepped back 22.03 points to 4,151.55
On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve rejected Citigroup's capital plan, saying it was troubled by the bank's inability to predict how much it could lose in a severe economic downturn. It banned the bank from any dividend hikes or share repurchases for the next year.
Citigroup shares dropped over 4% Thursday.
Citi was among 30 large banks required to submit capital plans for an annual stress tests. The Fed approved 25 plans. Citi and four other smaller banks were turned down.
But Bank of America shares rose after it announced an increase in its dividend and a new stock buyback plan. The bank also unveiled a $9.5-billion U.S. settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The deal settles all litigation between Bank of America and the agency over the use of mortgage-backed securities in the run up to the housing meltdown.
On the earnings front, Lululemon popped after the yogawear maker reported quarterly increases in revenue and net income. The stock was up over 8% mid-morning even though it also had a slide in same-store sales.
GameStop shares tanked after the video game retailer missed earnings estimates and gave a lackluster outlook for the current quarter. The company was hit hard by WalMart's announcement last month that it would buy used video games, a business which is traditionally Gamestop's bread and butter.
Accenture dropped about 7% after reporting a decline in quarterly net income. The technology services company was recently hired to work on the Obamacare website.
BlackBerry was downgraded to a sell by an analyst at Société Générale. Shares slumped on the news. The stock has had a rough go of it in recent years, but has rallied around 20% this year on hopes of a turnaround. The company will report its latest quarterly results on Friday morning.
King Digital Entertainment shares dipped again. The maker of online game Candy Crush Saga took a beating in its initial public offering on Wednesday. Despite an IPO price of $22.50 U.S, the stock is trading under $19.00 U.S.
Economically speaking, the Commerce Department says the U.S. economy grew at a 2.6% annual rate from October to December, slightly more than previously estimated, as consumer spending rose at the fastest pace in three years. Analysts had been expecting a growth rate of 2.4%
The release coincided with figures from the U.S. Labor Department that found jobless claims fell 10,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 311,000, the lowest since late November and a hopeful sign that hiring could pick up.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained, lowering yields to 2.68% from Wednesday’s 2.70%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up $1.22 to $101.48 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $5.80 to $1,297.60 U.S. an ounce.
