The Toronto stock market finished just south of breakeven Thursday despite better-than-expected figures on gross domestic product and jobless claims in the United States.
The S&P/TSX composite index lost 5.26 points to acknowledge the closing bell at 14,178.84
The Canadian dollar gained 0.57 cents at 90.65 cents U.S.
Smartphone maker BlackBerry saw its shares slide 1.7%, or 17 cents, to $9.98 as it prepared to report 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.
Resolute Forest Products Inc. says it plans on spending $105 million U.S. to upgrade its pulp and paper mill in Calhoun, Tenn., a decision it says will help lower costs and boost capacity. Its shares dipped 38 cents, or 1.9%, to $20.00.
In the gold sector, Agnico-Eagle Mines climbed 42 cents to $33.76, while Goldcorp added 22 cents to $27.40
The May copper contract gained two cents to $2.98 U.S. a pound as Teck Resources collected a dime to $23.35.
In the energy sector, Imperial Oil dropped four cents to $50.90, and Suncor grew in price 61 cents to $37.22.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange tumbled 17.90 points to 985.35
The 14 Toronto subgroups ended the day evenly split between gainers and losers. Energy and utility stocks each grew 1.1% stronger, while telecoms were 0.9% to the good.
The seven laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 0.9%, while information technology and industrials each slid 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks continued their March swoon Thursday, and banks were among the biggest losers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 4.76 points to close at 16,264.23. The S&P 500 index dipped 3.52 points to 1,849.04. The NASDAQ fell 22.35 points to 4,151.23
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 almost 6% 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.
Bank of America shares gave up earlier gains even though the bank announced an increase in its dividend and a new stock buyback plan. The firm 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 5% 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 Wal-Mart's announcement last month that it would buy used video games, a business which is traditionally GameStop's bread and butter.
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.
Accenture dropped after reporting a decline in quarterly net income. The technology services company was recently hired to work on the Obamacare website.
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 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 2.67% from Wednesday’s 2.70%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.07 to $101.33 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $10.70 to $1,292.70 U.S. an ounce.
