The Toronto stock market moved lower Thursday afternoon as oil and metal prices gave up ground in the wake of a trio of U.S. economic reports that pointed to weak growth.
The S&P TSX Composite Index gave back 70.90 points on the day to 11,710.18
The TSX tech sector’s strength was largely because of a 17.3% jump in the share price of business software company Open Text Corp. Its shares were up $6.64 to $45.05 after the company ended its fiscal year by more than doubling its fourth-quarter earnings to $51.5 million.
Revenue was up 18% to $240 million from $203 million in 2009.
Crude prices fell Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration said that oil supplies fell less than expected last week. Suncor Energy lost 33 cents to $32.96 and Imperial Oil gave back 47 cents to $38.82.
The base metals sector was off as the September copper contract on the Nymex lost three cents to $3.32 U.S. a pound. Thompson Creek Metals shed 25 cents to $9.32 while Teck Resources gave back $1.38 to $34.58.
Financials were also weak with CIBC down 68 cents to $68.93 and Manulife Financial lost 28 cents to $12.32.
Among gold issues, Kinross Gold Corp. was up 26 cents to $16.18.
In economic news, Statistics Canada said the composite leading index edged up 0.4% in July, after increasing 0.7% in June, largely hurt by a slowdown in the household sector. Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector registered growth, with orders for durable goods rising 2.2%.
In another report today, the agency said wholesale sales declined 0.3% to $43.9 billion in June, as the machinery, equipment and supplies sub sector fell 2.3% to $8.9 billion in June. The building material and supplies sub sector fell 2.0%.
The Canadian dollar slid in value 0.93 cents to 96.24 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but three of the 14 TSX subgroups were down on the day. Metals and mining stocks capsized 1.9%, while global base metals stumbled 1.3% and consumer discretionaries were off 1.1%.
The three stalwarts were information technology, jumping 2.9%, while gold shone 0.5% and materials were 0.1% to the good.
The TSX Venture Exchange nosed upward 3.38 points to 1,473.75, while the Nasdaq Canada index surrendered 1.40 points to close at 602.76.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, investors were hit with a triple whammy of bad economic news Thursday: manufacturing still stinks, more people are jobless and confidence in the future is less than hoped.
The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted 144.33 points, or 1.4%, to stumble home to 10,271.21
The S&P 500 index tumbled 18.53 points to 1,075.63. The tech-rich Nasdaq composite index subsided 36.75 points to 2,178.95
Stocks were coming off two days of gains, driven by solid earnings outlooks from retail giants Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Target. But even during this week's earlier rallies, traders were saying they were remaining cautious given fears about a double-dip recession -- or at least, a slower recovery.
Thursday's disappointing numbers on weekly jobless claims, manufacturing in the Philadelphia region and leading indicators just fanned the flames on those gloom-and-doom fears.
A report that showed manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region slowed to a 13-month low "suggests the industrial recovery is teetering on the brink," one expert said.
Intel will acquire security software maker McAfee for $7.68 billion U.S. Shares of Intel slipped 3.3% in afternoon trading, while McAfee's stock spiked about 57%.
Two key technology companies that have been in the news of late -- Hewlett-Packard and Dell -- are scheduled to report quarterly results after the close.
Both companies' earnings are expected to rise from a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are looking for Dell to post a profit of 30 cents U.S. per share on revenue of $15.2 billion U.S. HP is expected to have earned $1.08 U.S. per share on revenue of $30.4 billion U.S.
Shares of Dell fell about 1.1%, while HP's stock dipped 1.9%.
Earlier this month, HP chief executive Mark Hurd resigned because of accounting issues related to his relationship with a female contractor.
Last month, Dell agreed to pay a $100-million U.S. fine to settle a fraud charge with the SEC.
Economically speaking, the number of Americans filing for unemployment insurance unexpectedly jumped 12,000 to 500,000 last week from an upwardly revised 488,000 the previous week. The figure was the highest level since the week ended Nov. 14.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expected claims to drop to 475,000.
Meanwhile, the index of leading economic indicators -- a measure of the economy's future performance -- increased a mere 0.1% in July, the Conference Board said. Analysts had forecast a 0.2% increase for the month.
Elsewhere, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's economic index took an unexpected dive in August, turning to negative 7.7 when analysts had expected a positive 7.5. The index measures manufacturing activity in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware, and any number below zero indicates business activity in the sector is slowing down.
Treasury prices moved higher, lowering yields for the benchmark 10-year note to 2.58% from Wednesday’s 2.64%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil dropped $1.04 to $74.38 U.S.
Gold prices inched up a dollar to $1,233 U.S. an ounce.
