The S&P/TSX composite index tumbled 124.97 points to open Friday at 14,744.83, at the end of what’s been a very rough week.
The Canadian dollar 0.13 cents to 79.96 cents U.S.
BlackBerry Ltd posted a fiscal fourth-quarter profit compared with a year-earlier loss, offering some signs its turnaround efforts may be beginning to gain traction. BlackBerry shares hiked 27 cents, or 2.3%, to $11.87.
BRP Inc, the maker of Ski-Doo snowmobiles and Sea-Doo watercraft, reported a much higher-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by a stronger dollar, the introduction of new powersport vehicles and higher shipments of Can-Am off-road vehicles. BRP shares accelerated 64 cents, or 2.7%, to $24.40.
Kinross Gold Corp has agreed pay $33 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit that had accused the Canadian gold miner of defrauding investors through an ill-advised mine acquisition in Mauritania that has resulted in over $6 billion in writedowns. Kinross backtracked a nickel to $2.90.
Canaccord Genuity upped the rating on Chesswood Group to buy from hold; the target price to $13.75 from $12.50. Chesswood shares retreated 20 cents to $11.55.
RBC raised the price target on Imperial Oil to $49.00 from $47.00. Imperial shares lost 28 cents to $50.51.
Macquarie cut the rating on Legacy Oil + Gas to neutral; the target price to $2.00 from $3.50. Legacy shares dove 16 cents, or 9.2%, to $1.58.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 2.7 points to 676.86
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups lost ground, with metals and mining down 2.6%, global base metals trailing 1.7%, and materials falling 1.3%.
The two gainers were information technology and health-care, each creeping up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded in a narrow range on Friday as equities attempted to break the week's decline and investors remained cautious ahead of first quarter earnings in April.
The Dow Jones Industrials inched back 6.67 points to 17,671.56 to begin Friday
The S&P 500 eked up 3.15 points to 2,059.30. The NASDAQ bolted 19.10 points higher to 4,882.47.
Stocks have not posted gains for a single day so far this week. The last time the S&P posted losses for every consecutive day from Monday to Friday was in May 2012.
In corporate news, BlackBerry gained 2% after posting earnings of four cents a share, beating expectations for a four-cent loss.
However, revenue was far below Street forecasts as sales from services exceeded those from hardware.
Cruise ship operator Carnival surged more than 6% after reporting earnings that showed a net profit of $49 million U.S. or six cents a share.
Dow Chemical will spin off part of its chlorine derivatives business and merge it with Olin Corporation, creating a company with annual revenue of about $7 billion U.S. It will get about $2 billion U.S. in cash and about $2.2 billion U.S. in Olin stock as part of the deal.
American Apparel's ex-CEO Dov Charney is seeking $40 million U.S. in damages for alleged breach of his employment contract. Charney was removed from his job in December following a six-month suspension amid allegations of misusing funds.
Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook plans to donate his estimated $785-million U.S. fortune to charity, according to a Fortune article.
Amazon.com is in talks to buy online luxury retailer Net-a-Porter, according to Forbes, in what might be the largest-ever acquisition for Amazon
The third estimate for fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) came in unchanged at 2.2%. While corporate profits fell, consumer spending was revised higher to 4.4% from 4.2%, the fastest rate since the first quarter of 2006.
Most analysts expected a rise to 2.4% from 2.2%. However, a few estimates say weak U.S. economic data could result in a negative revision.
The University of Michigan's final consumer sentiment reading for March was 93.0, slightly above estimates but below February's 95.4.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained, lowering yields to 1.97% from Thursday’s 2%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices weakened $1.80 to $49.63 U.S.
Gold prices lost $9.10 to $1,195.70 U.S.
