Stocks in Toronto took a sharp dive toward the end of Friday’s session, mostly on weakness of resource and technology stocks.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended the day down 72.75 points to 13,258.57
The Canadian dollar gained 0.19 of a cent at 100.46 cents U.S.
Enbridge Inc. rose 0.8% to $55.55, after China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. joined a group investing more than $100 million in the Calgary-based company’s proposed $5.5-billion pipeline to Canada’s west coast.
The largest transporter of oil to the U.S. from Canada’s tar sands has proposed piping as much as 525,000 barrels a day to the nation’s west coast, from where it would be shipped to Asia and the U.S.
Suncor advanced 1% to $38.06. Cenovus Energy Inc., Canada’s fifth-biggest energy company, climbed 1.7% to $32.14, the first gain in a week.
Gold futures dropped, while silver also fell. Precious metals lose appeal as an alternative investment as confidence grows in a recovering European economy.
Nevsun Resources Ltd., which mines for gold in Ghana and Mali, dropped 7.9% to $5.72. Eldorado Gold, which has mines in Brazil, China, Turkey and Greece, fell 3.2% to $15.85. Gammon Gold Inc. dropped 4% to $7.22.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada said Canadian retail sales rose a bigger-than-expected 1.3% in November, racking up their biggest increase since March 2010 on higher sales in the auto industry, Statistics Canada said on Friday.
It was the sixth consecutive month of gains. Markets had expected a 0.5% rise.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange rebounded 17.90 points from Thursday to 2,265.58, while the Nasdaq Canada index sagged 8.26 points to 758.10.
In Toronto, nine of the 14 subgroups were lower on the day. Global base metals and information technology issues, were down 1.6% each, while metals and mining stocks dumped 1.4%.
The five gaining groups were led by health-care, picking up 1.6%, energy, up 1.3%, and telecoms, better by 0.4%
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks were mixed Friday, with technology shares lagging the broader market, as investors weighed strong earnings from General Electric and Google against a quarterly loss from Bank of America.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 49.04 points to finish a holiday-shortened week at 11,871.80
The S&P 500 was 3.09 points higher to 1,283.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index settled back 14.75 points to 2,689.54.
General Electric led gainers on the Dow after the conglomerate reported a fourth-quarter profit that topped Wall Street forecast, sending its stock up 6%. Energy stocks Exxon and Chevron were also strong after an industry group suggested oil prices will continue to rise in 2011.
Google reported late Thursday that quarterly profits and sales rose from year-ago and beat analysts' forecasts. The company also said Eric Schmidt is stepping down as chief executive, with co-founder Larry Page taking over in April. Google shares were flat.
Shares of Bank of America sank 2% after it reported quarterly results that disappointed investors. But a better-than-expected quarterly report from SunTrust bank in Atlanta helped temper ongoing worries about the banking sector, according to Kalivas.
The technology sector has been under pressure this week, despite strong earnings from tech leaders IBM, Apple and Google. Some traders say the sector is "overbought" and that strong tech earnings may not be enough to push the market higher.
GE said its fourth-quarter earnings rose 31% to $3.9 billion U.S., driven by strong performance in its finance arm and growth in equipment orders.
Bank of America reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $1.2 billion U.S., or 16 cents U.S. per share. The latest results included a previously announced goodwill impairment charge of $2 billion U.S. Shares of Bank of America fell 1.2%.
SunTrust said it earned $84 million U.S., or 17 cents U.S. per share, in the bank's fiscal third quarter. That compares with a loss of $377 million U.S., or 76 cents U.S. per share, in the third quarter of 2009.
Oilfield services company Schlumberger said Friday that it earned net income of $1.16 billion U.S. in the fourth quarter, up 42% from last year. Earnings per share were 85 cents U.S., versus a forecasted 83 cents U.S. Shares tumbled 1.4%.
In other corporate news, Warner Music said it retained Goldman Sachs) to find a buyer for all or part of the company, according to news reports. Shares of Warner Music surged 24%.
Hewlett-Packard announced late Thursday that four directors are stepping down. Five new directors will join the computer product company's board, including eBay's ex-CEO Meg Whitman.
Shares of HP edged up 0.8%.
There were no market moving economic reports on tap for Friday.
Prices on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury regained ground, lowering the yield to 3.42% from Thursday’s 3.46%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery lost 42 cents to $89.17 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery fell $3.80 to $1,342.70 U.S. an ounce.
