The Toronto stock market was down over 150 points Friday at the end of a negative week as rising worries about the American economy pushed stocks lower across virtually all sectors.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index unloaded 171.74 points, or 1.3%, to conclude the day and the week at 13,084
The Canadian dollar shed 0.59 cents to 102.20 cents U.S.
Energy stocks were particularly vulnerable, as Suncor Energy lost 73 cents to $38.07 while Cenovus Energy lost $1.12 to $33.47.
The base metals sector lost ground as metal prices also declined with the July copper contract on the Nymex down seven cents to $4.04 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources lost $1.99 to $45.51.
Taseko Mines Ltd. fell 33 cents to $4.52 as the miner saw its first-quarter profit drop to $5.8 million compared to $77.1 million a year ago when the company recorded a large one-time gain.
Revenue fell more than 20% and costs at its Gibraltar mine rose.
In the gold sector Kinross Gold Corp. faded a dime to $15.15 while Barrick Gold Corp. was down 63 cents to $42.62.
The poor showing on the TSX extended across all sectors, with the financials group down as TD Bank fell 60 cents to $79.18 while Scotiabank shed 66 cents to $57.58.
The tech sector was also lower. Research In Motion dropped 83 cents to $35.82 after it said Friday that it will launch its PlayBook tablet device in another 16 international markets over the next 30 days, including India, the U.K. and Australia.
In earnings news, retailer Lululemon Athletica Inc. beat analyst expectations in the first quarter with a bigger profit on the back of stronger sales of its yoga apparel. Earnings came in at $33.5 million, or 46 cents per share, above predictions of 38 cents per share, and also ahead of the $19.6 million in profit reported a year ago.
Revenue increased to $186.8 million from $138.3 million. Its shares jumped $4.10 to $88.00 as the company also forecast stronger than expected second-quarter and full-year earnings.
Patheon Inc., a provider of contract drug manufacturing services, reported it lost $11.2 million U.S. in the second quarter, reversing a $10.9-million profit a year earlier. The company, which reports in U.S. currency, said weakness in the U.S. dollar resulted in an $8.8-million currency translation hit on its books. Revenues for the quarter fell 3.1% to $170 million and its shares slipped 27 cents to $1.93.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported this morning that 22,300 new jobs were created last month, slightly above consensus following the previous month’s strong 58,000 gain. The unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 7.4%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 23.46 points to 1,934.93 while the Nasdaq Canada index slipped 15.04 points to 591.21
In Toronto, all but one of the 14 subgroups remained negative to day’s end. The metals and mining torched 3%, while global base metals plummeted 2.4%, and energy stocks swooned 2%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, Stocks sold off sharply Friday, with the Dow falling below 12,000 for the first time in three months and the Nasdaq erasing all of its gains for the year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 172.45 points, or 1.4%, to 11,951.90, with Travelers remaining the biggest drag on the blue-chip index. The insurance company warned that it faced $1 billion U.S. in catastrophic losses related to the storms and floods in the Midwest and South, and said it would slow its stock buyback program.
The selling spilled over to other insurance stocks. Allstate, Metlife and Principal Financial were all down 1% or more.
The much-broader S&P 500 gave back 18.02 points to 1,270.98, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 41.14 points to 2,643.73
Toyota released its forecast for fiscal year 2012. The auto giant said the fallout from the March earthquake and tsunami will continue to hurt sales and cause supply disruptions across the industry.
In its report, Toyota said it could lose $1.6 billion U.S. in profits in the current fiscal year. The automaker said it also expects consolidated net income to drop 31% to $3.4 billion U.S. in the next fiscal year.
Toyota also forecast operating income to drop about 35% for the next year, based on current exchange rates between the yen and the dollar.
Lululemon Athletica's stock jumped 4% after the maker of athletic clothing reported a profit that topped estimates and raised its outlook.
Shares of Fusion-io extended their rally, rising 7%. Fusion-io made its public debut Thursday after raising $233.7 million U.S. through an initial public offering.
Online music streaming company Pandora said it would sell a total of 14.7 million shares through its previously announced IPO at a price range of $10-$12 U.S. a share.
Avaya, which makes telecom equipment, filed Thursday to raise up to $1 billion U.S. in a public offering. The company joins a crowd of tech companies rushing to take advantage of a friendly IPO climate.
Ally Financial, formerly the financial services arm of GM, has decided to delay its $5 billion U.S. initial public offering, according to reports. The company has been owned by U.S. taxpayers since GM was rescued by the government in the recession.
Economically speaking, the U.S. government reported import prices for May rose 0.4%, excluding oil. That comes after a 0.6% increase in the prior month.
Excluding agriculture, exports increased by 0.5%. That followed a 1.0% increase in April.
Elsewhere, the Treasury Department reported that the federal budget deficit for May was $57.6 billion and $927.4 billion for the first eight months of the fiscal year.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury jumped, with yields stumbling to 2.97% from 3% late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices teetered $2.77 to trade at $99.16 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $7.42 to $1,530.68 U.S. an ounce.
