Canadian stocks fell Thursday as oil and base metals slumped on prospects of higher interest rates in China and gold slipped after reports on U.S. initial jobless claims and housing were better than forecast.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed a downward session Thursday off 107.72 points to 13,331.32
The Canadian dollar was down 0.15 of a cent at 100.29 cents U.S.
Barrick Gold decreased 1.5% to $46.81. Goldcorp Inc., the world’s second-largest gold producer by market value, retreated 0.4% to $40.42. Silver reseller Silver Wheaton Corp. tumbled 2.5% to $31.40, extending its monthly slump to 21%. First Majestic Silver Corp., which mines in Mexico, sank 8.9% to $11.51.
Canadian Natural Resources declined 0.6% to $42.04. Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s largest oil and gas producer, lost 0.5% to $37.67. Cenovus Energy Inc., Canada’s fifth-biggest energy company, slipped 0.6% to $31.60 for a sixth straight drop, the longest streak since EnCana Corp. spun off Cenovus in 2009.
Copper retreated in New York, while zinc fell in London for a sixth day. Teck decreased 3.4% to $60.27. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., which is building a copper and gold mine in Mongolia with Rio Tinto Group, slumped 2.1% to $25.24. First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Canada’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, dropped 3.7% to $112.50.
Fertilizer producers declined for a second day after Cargill Inc. said Jan. 18 it will sell its stake in Mosaic Co.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer by market value, lost 3.1% to $161.14. Agrium Inc., the world’s fourth-largest agricultural-chemicals company, decreased 3.8% to $87.22.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada Thursday said composite leading indicator rose 0.5% in December from November, lifted by a rise in stock market prices and household spending. Analysts expected a jump of only 0.3%.
The nation’s number-crunchers also said Canadian wholesale trade rose by a more-than-expected 1.2% in November, gaining for the fourth month in a row on a rise in sales of machinery and equipment. The improvement trumped analysts’ estimates of only 0.2%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange collapsed 37.34 points to 2,247.68, while the Nasdaq Canada index fell 13.64 points to 766.36.
In Toronto, all but two of the 14 subgroups were lower Thursday. Metals and mining stocks weighed most heavily, down 3.1%, global base metals settled 2.4%, and materials were off 2.1%.
The two gainers were health-care up 0.7%, and telecoms, ahead 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks gained back some ground Thursday afternoon, with blue chips moving higher and technology shares lagging the broader market, as investors shook off concerns about the consequences of China's robust growth.
The Dow Jones Industrials was 2.49 points shy of breakeven, at 11,822.80
The S&P 500 was 1.66 points lower to 1,280.26 The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 21.07 points to 2,704.29.
Stocks opened lower after a stronger-than-expected reading on economic growth in China raised fears about what steps the government might take to slow activity. But investors tip-toed back into the market later in the day as those concerns eased.
Bank stocks, which have been battered by mixed earnings results, helped boost the broader market. Bank of America and JPMorgan were both up over 1%. Morgan Stanley was up 4% after it posted better than expected quarterly earnings, but missed on sales
GE, Home Depot and Wal-Mart were also strong leaders on the Dow.
However, companies with exposure to China remained weak. Caterpillar and Boeing were the worst performers on the Dow.
Technology stocks declined for the second day in a row. Shares of F5 Networks plunged 20% after the maker of Internet networking devices issued a dour outlook for the second quarter.
Morgan Stanley posted fourth-quarter earnings of $1.1 billion U.S., or 43 cents U.S. a share.
Revenue rose 14% from a year earlier to $7.8 billion U.S. Analysts expected the investment bank to report earnings per share of 35 cents U.S. on revenue of $7.35 billion U.S. Shares of Morgan Stanley rose 4%.
Wendy's/Arby's Group shares spiked 9% after the fast food giant announced it may sell its struggling Arby's roast beef sandwich chain to focus resources exclusively on the Wendy's brand.
F5 Networks said it expects to report second-quarter sales in the range of $275 million U.S. to $280 million. Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were expecting revenues between $272 million and $308 million U.S.
Shares of Cisco a rival network systems company, fell more than 1%.
After the market closed Wednesday, eBay said its fourth-quarter revenue rose 5% over the prior year to $2.5 billion U.S. Shares of eBay jumped 5%.
Google is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings results after the close of trading Thursday. Shares of the search giant were flat.
On the economic front, the number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment insurance eased by 37,000 to 404,000 last week. The number was lower than forecast.
The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes rose 12% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.28 million. The total was much larger than expected.
The Philadelphia Fed index, a regional reading on manufacturing, edged down in December. And the index of Leading Economic Indicators increased more than expected in December.
Prices on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury dropped sharply, raising the yield to 3.46% from Wednesday’s 3.34%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery gave back $1.39 to $89.46 U.S. a barrel
Gold futures for February delivery fell $23.70 to settle at $1,346.50 U.S. an ounce.
