The Toronto stock market lost ground for a second session on Wednesday, with investors disinclined to push prices higher amid a lack of market-moving news and ahead of the first-quarter earnings season.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 45.81 points to 12,110.90.
The market is up about 2.3% year-to-date, including a solid increase in the wake of strong economic data from Canada and the United States.
Governments in Canada and around the world began spending heavily last year to stimulate economic activity and offset the banking sector’s worst crisis in decades in late 2008 and the global recession that ensued.
Energy stocks led Toronto decliners as oil dropped in price after the U.S. Department of Energy reported a sharp rise in crude inventories last week. Stockpiles rose by two million barrels, against the 1.5 million that had been expected.
Crude rose more than eight per cent last week as positive economic reports encouraged expectations of rising demand.
On the TSX, Suncor Energy was down 58 cents to $34.59 and Canadian Natural Resources was down $1.07 to $78.12.
Talisman Energy Inc. shares fell 43 cents to $17.40 after it said that it will sell a number of non-core assets in Canada through five separate transactions for a total of $1.9 billion. The Calgary-based oil and gas producer says it will sell its properties in Ontario as well as land in western Canada where Talisman has its main Canadian base.
The base metals component of the TSX was off while May copper in New York was three cents lower at $3.59 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources declined $1.35 to $45.40 while Labrador Iron Mines Holdings was down 31 cents to $6.78.
Inmet Mining Corp. says workers at its Ok Tedi mine in Papua New Guinea have been on an illegal strike over bonus distributions since April 1. As a result, the company expects its full-year copper production has been hurt so far by 0.4% and gold output will be at least 1% below target.
Inmet shares declined 57 cents to $59.93.
But blue chips also made strong contributions to the malaise with the industrials sector down in price.
Bombardier Inc. fell back nine cents to $5.54 while Canadian National Railways declined 61 cents to $60.87.
Financials were down with Manulife Financial down 10 cents to $20.24 and TD Bank dropped 80 cents to $73.41.
The gold sector was ahead, as Barrick Gold Corp. rose $1.44 to $40.88.
In corporate news, Canadian Tire Corp. says its main focus over the next three to five years will be growing its core retail operations. Under a strategic plan announced Wednesday, the company acknowledges that returns from its financial services business have been below expectations.
Chief executive Stephen Wetmore said Canadian Tire has an advantage over competitors because of its well-known brand and unique assortment of goods. Its shares were off a nickel to $55.94.
Elsewhere in the retail sector, sporting goods company Forzani Group Ltd. said Tuesday after markets closed that it is seeing early signs that recession-battered consumers may be ready to spend again, but cautioned that its fortunes will largely be at the mercy of Mother Nature for the rest of this year. Forzani shares gained 83 cents to $16.00.
In economic news, Statistics Canada said value of building permits edged down 0.5% to $5.7 billion in February on month-on-month, but was 56.7% higher than that of February 2009.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.34 cents to 99.55 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but two of the 14 TSX subgroups were negative, with energy weighing on the market most, down 1.5%. Global base metals were next-worst off , at 1%, and real-estate subsided 0.8%.
The two gainers were gold, up 3.2%, and materials, ahead 1.5%.
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 11.39 points to 1,647.18, while the Nasdaq Canada index gave back 2.44 points to 778.14
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks tumbled Wednesday following a report that consumer borrowing fell and General Motors said it lost billions of dollars during the second half of 2009.
The Dow Jones industrial average jettisoned 72.47 points to end the day at 10,897.52. The S&P 500 dumped 6.99 points to 1,182.45. The Nasdaq slid 5.65 points to 2,431.16.
The blue-chip Dow has bumped against the important mark lately. On Monday, the index rose to within 11 points of 11,000. The Dow last closed above that level on Sept. 26, 2008.
Trading on Wall Street was muted Tuesday, but the Nasdaq and S&P 500 edged higher to finish at 1-1/2 year highs.
Shortly after the start of trade, General Motors posted a $4.3 billion loss for the July-December period of 2009, during which the company emerged from bankruptcy protection.
In its annual report released Wednesday, Goldman Sachs defended employee bonuses and its multi-billion dollar relationship with AIG while downplaying its short-selling in the mortgage market.
The market is in a "wait-and-see" pattern, some experts said, as investors look ahead to next week and the quarterly corporate results season.
Economically speaking, consumer credit fell at an annual rate of 5.6% in February, according to the Federal Reserve, after increasing for the first time in a year during the previous month.
Total consumer credit fell a seasonally adjusted $11.5 billion U.S., at an annual rate of 5.6%, to $2.448 trillion U.S. That was much worse than expected, as analysts expected a drop of only $700 million U.S.
Lingering concerns about the debt woes brewing in Europe also weighed on stocks. Greece denied reports Tuesday that it was uncomfortable with accepting assistance from the International Monetary Fund.
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission began a three-day hearing, focusing on the causes behind the mortgage meltdown. Former Fed Chief Alan Greenspan testified at Wednesday's hearing, saying that while steps can be taken to limit the impact of another shock, regulators can't fully prevent another crisis from happening.
U.S. Treasurys were lower, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note rising to 3.96%. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Earlier this week, the yield topped 4% for the first time in 18 months amid optimism about the economic recovery. Wednesday's auction of 10-year notes is part of an $82-billion U.S. offering this week of U.S. debt.
The price of a barrel of oil skidded $1.12 to $85.73 U.S.
Gold prices tacked on $14 to $1,150 U.S. an ounce.
