The Toronto stock market was negative Wednesday as nervousness about the American economy returned after data showed surprising weakness in a widely-watched regional economic gauge.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index let go of 125.79 points, or 1%, to end the day at 12,972.
The Canadian dollar subtracted 1.09 cents to 102.13 cents U.S.
The financial sector was down, with TD Bank down $1.17 to $78.41 and National Bank was also $1.17 lower to $77.33.
The TSX energy was off early lows, but still down as oil prices turned around.
The July crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose as the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that crude inventories fell 3.4 million barrels last week while analysts had predicted a drop of 1.9 million barrels.
At the same time, it said that inventories of gasoline rose 600,000 barrels last week against an expected 1.3 million-barrel rise.
Suncor Energy lost 98 cents to $37.41 a day after the energy giant said it won’t return to Libya while Moammar Gadhafi remains in power. Suncor head Rick George said the company may announce a writedown as early as next month as a result of the Libyan situation, but no decision has been made.
Talisman Energy declined 20 cents to $18.95.
The base metals sector was down with the July copper contract unchanged at $4.15 U.S. a pound after surging 12 cents on Tuesday. Taseko Mines declined 17 cents to $4.30 while Inmet Mining gave back $1.69 to $65.02.
Investors also took in some major acquisition activity in the mining sector. Belgium’s Nyrstar NV is making a friendly takeover bid for Canada’s Breakwater Resources Ltd. in a deal is worth about $663 million, based on $7 per share.
Breakwater shares surged $2.21 or 42.5% to $7.41.
The gold sector was the only positive group as Goldcorp Inc. advanced $1.15 to $46.73 while Kinross Gold Corp. gained 17 cents to $15.11.
The TSX ran up 158 points Tuesday and the Dow Industrials 123 points after data showed U.S. retail sales in May declined 0.2%, against the 0.7% slide that economists expected.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported this morning that manufacturing sales in this country cooled 1.3% in April to $46.7 billion, due mostly to settling in the transportation equipment, petroleum and coal sectors.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange parted with 20.99 points to 1,924.22, while the Nasdaq Canada index shed 11.22 points to 578.80
In Toronto, all but one of the 14 subgroups were lower by the closing. Metals and mining fell 2.2%, global base metals 2.1%, while energy issues dropped 1.7%,
Only gold was up, gaining 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, a stock selloff intensified Wednesday afternoon amid gloomy manufacturing data and renewed fears about Greece's debt problems.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average doffed 178.84 points, or 1.5%, to conclude a debacle of a day at 11,897.30. Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase were among the biggest laggards.
Other financial stocks followed suit, with shares of Wells Fargo and Citigroup down 3%
The S&P 500 dropped 22.45 points to 1,265.42, with a 10% drop in shares of Owens-Illinois leading the decline. The glass container maker cut its earnings guidance, citing rising manufacturing costs.
The Nasdaq Composite shed 47.26 points to 2,631.46. Baidu and Yahoo were among the worst performers on the tech-heavy index.
News that European officials failed to reach an agreement on bailing out Greece "continues to drive fear and cues the overall downtrend in the market," said one expert.
Shares of Carnival slipped more than 2% after the cruise-line operator lowered its fiscal 2011 earnings outlook earlier this week -- leading some analysts to cut their price targets for the company.
Scotts Miracle Gro cut its full-year forecast as well, sending shares of the lawn-care product maker more than 6% lower. The company said continued bad weather has led to lower consumer demand.
Internet radio site Pandora began trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "P." Shares of Pandora, which priced its initial public offering at $16 U.S. a share, surged 16%
Economically speaking, consumer inflation picked up more than expected last month, with growth driven by increased food prices, the government reported Wednesday.
The U.S. Labor Department's consumer price index rose 0.2% in May. Economists polled by Briefing.com expected consumer inflation ticked up by 0.1% in May, down from the 0.4% rise in the previous month.
Meanwhile, the Empire State manufacturing index declined by 7.8 points, while economists were forecasting an increase of 10 points.
Elsewhere, a report from the Federal Reserve showed that industrial production rose 0.1% in May, while capacity utilization climbed to 76.7% last month. Both readings came in slightly below economists' expectations.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury shot back up again, with yields falling sharply to 2.97%, from Tuesday’s 3.10%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded $4.18 to trade at $95.19 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for August delivery rose $1.50 to $1,525.90 U.S. an ounce.
