Canada's main stock index declined on Thursday as sluggish Chinese data raised concerns about growth in the world's second-biggest economy and shares of energy producers followed oil prices lower.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 77.43 points to end Thursday at 14,778.77
The Canadian dollar moved lower 0.46 cents to 87.89 cents U.S.
Shares of energy producers shed strength. Canadian Natural Resources lost $1.24, or 3% to $40.67, and Suncor Energy declined 66 cents, or 1.7%, to $39.19.
Manulife Financial Corp fell seven cents to $21.60 after reporting slightly lower-than-expected third-quarter earnings as weaker Canadian and U.S. insurance and wealth management sales offset strong growth in Asia.
BlackBerry was expected Thursday to outline tie-ups with carriers and service providers that will be co-marketing the BlackBerry Enterprise platform, according to industry sources. The company once known as Research in Motion saw its shares vault 98 cents, or 7.7%, to $13.74.
Economically speaking, figures showed that China's factory growth fell in October and investment growth hit a near 13-year low.
On the domestic economic front, Statistics Canada reported this morning that its New Housing Price Index rose 0.1% in September, following a 0.3% increase in August. Provincially, increases in Ontario and Alberta offset declines in Quebec and Manitoba.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 6.50 points to 764.89.
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower on the day, as energy declined 2.9%, while gold and the metals and mining group each shed 1.2%.
The five gainers were led by information technology issues, up 2.1%, health-care, up 1.3%, and telecoms, hiking 1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Energy shares fell their most in a month on Thursday as crude prices slid, leaving the S&P 500 little changed despite gains in Wal-Mart and other consumer stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 40.69 points to 17,652.79
The S&P 500 was up 1.08 at 2,039.33. The NASDAQ index gained five points to 4,680.14.
Wal-Mart was up 4.2% to $82.50 U.S. after posting a 2.9 percent increase in third-quarter revenue. It earlier hit a high of $82.85 U.S.
Apple rose as high as $113.45 U.S. to a fresh record while Microsoft, up 1.6% at $49.55 U.S, swelled to a market cap above $407 billion U.S. and overtook Exxon Mobil as the second-largest publicly traded U.S. company, behind Apple.
Exxon fell 1.1% to $94.39 U.S. as the largest weight on the S&P 500 energy sector. Brent crude fell under $78 U.S. a barrel while U.S. crude tumbled 3.8 percent to $74.27, both at their lowest in more than four years.
J.C. Penney shares tumbled 7.7%to $7.16 U.S. the day after it reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss but said same-store sales were flat and slightly cut its full-year revenue forecast.
DreamWorks Animation shares jumped 10.9% to $24.81 U.S. after the New York Times said toymaker Hasbro Inc was in talks to buy the Hollywood studio. Hasbro shares lost 4% to $55.15 U.S.
U.S.-traded BlackBerry shares jumped 8.5% to $12.23 U.S, the highest since June 2013, after it unveiled its new mobile-device management and security platform and struck wide-ranging partnerships.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained slightly, lowering yields to 2.35% from Wednesday’s 2.36%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank $2.58 to $74.60 U.S.
Gold prices tacked on $2.50 to $1,161.60 U.S.
