The Toronto stock market headed lower again Wednesday as commodity prices softened in the wake of fresh concerns about another round of interest rate hikes in China to deal with high inflation.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index surrendered 81.05 points to close at 13,611.32
The Canadian dollar faded 0.64 cents to 104.32 cents U.S.
Canadian Natural Resources lost 88 cents to $42.32, but Suncor Energy improved 20 cents to $41.75.
Talisman Energy shares fell $1.30 to $21.13 as the company posted a net loss of $326 million U.S. or 32 cents per share for the first quarter of 2011 compared to net income of $371 million or 36 cents per share a year ago.
The base metals sector fell as copper prices also declined Wednesday morning with the May contract on the Nymex down nine cents to $4.15 U.S. a pound. First Quantum dropped $2.60 to $127.32 while Quadra FNX Mining was down 19 cents to $14.59.
In the gold sector, Goldcorp Inc. turned direction and gained eight cents to $48.25 while Kinross Gold Corp. gained 69 cents to $14.88.
Financials were also weak as National Bank lost 25 cents to $79.00 and TD Bank declined 61 cents to $81.39.
Elsewhere on the earnings front, fertilizer, chemicals and farm inputs retailer Agrium Inc. reported net earnings of $171 million U.S., or $1.09 per share, beating analyst expectations by seven cents. Sales rose to $2.95 billion, also outperforming estimates of $2.5 billion but its shares fell $3.08 to $80.47.
Loblaw Companies Ltd. says first-quarter profits rose nearly 23% to $162 million, or 58 cents a share, five cents higher than analysts expected. Its shares were ahead $1.85 to $41.90.
Torstar Corp. declined $1.29 to $12.35 amid first-quarter profits which slipped to $15.4 million from $16.6 million a year earlier, as the company spent more on its digital operations. Revenue increased to $351.4 million from $335 million.
Domtar Corp. has boosted its quarterly dividend by 40% to 35 cents per share. It also increased its buyback program to $600 million from $150 million and its shares gained 96 cents to $90.37.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange retreated 33.22 points to 2,125.68 while the Nasdaq Canada index demurred 8.45 points to 691.69
In Toronto, nine of the 14 subgroups were down on the day, weighed mostly by metals and mining as well as energy stocks, down 1.5% each, while global base metals slid 1.4%.
The five gainers were led by consumer staples, up 0.8%, gold, gaining 0.7%, and utilities, ahead 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, equities ended in the red Wednesday, as disappointing reports on jobs and the services sector weighed on investors.
The Dow Jones industrial average gave up 83.93 points to 12,723.60
The S&P 500 was down 9.30 points to 1,347.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index slumped 13.39 points to 2,814.02
Caterpillar and General Electric were the biggest drags on the Dow. Shares of First Solar pressured both the Nasdaq and S&P 500, falling 8.5%.
Stocks have been trending generally higher since the start of the year, but investors fear the economy is still on shaky ground.
They're waiting to see just how hard businesses were hurt by rising energy prices over the last few months, and keeping a close eye on the looming debt ceiling facing Congress.
Meanwhile, Europe's debt problems were thrust back in the spotlight early Wednesday, after Portugal agreed to a $116-billion U.S. financial bailout, according to reports
Intel helped offset losses in the three major stock indexes, after the company announced it would manufacture microprocessor chips using new 3-D technology. Intel shares rose about 2% following the news.
Chinese social networking site Renren debuted on the New York Stock Exchange at $14 U.S. a share. Often dubbed the "Facebook of China," Renren shares rose more than 28% to $18.01 U.S. a piece.
Before the opening bell, Time Warner said a surge in advertising sales boosted revenue. But net income dropped. Shares of Time Warner fell 3.2%.
Time Warner's results come on the heels of better-than-expected earnings from CBS Corp. announced the day before. CBS shares rose 7.8% Wednesday morning.
After the close, investors got results from News Corp., Prudential Financial, WholeFoods, MetLife and video game publisher Electronic Arts
Shares of Varian Semiconductor surged more than 50%, on news that Applied Materials will buy the chipmaker in a $5-billion U.S. cash deal.
On the economic front, payroll processor ADP said the private sector created 179,000 jobs last month -- down from 207,000 in the previous month. That was less than the 200,000 economists had been expecting.
Also today, the Institute for Supply Management also brought gloomy news, showing its reading on the services sector fell to an eight-month low in April.
Neither reports spur much confidence ahead of the government's widely anticipated report on April payrolls, due Friday.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury moved lower, pushing yields back up to Tuesday’s 3.26%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for June delivery slid $2.29 to $108.84 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for June delivery fell $25.10 to settle at $1,515.30 U.S. an ounce.
