The Toronto stock market was slightly depressed Wednesday, weighed down by energy and mining stocks as commodity prices declined in the wake of another wave of pessimism over the European government debt crisis
The S&P/TSX Composite Index sifted off 22.20 points to close Wednesday at 13,403.10
The Canadian dollar slid 0.29 cents to 103.58 cents U.S.
In the gold sector – among the market leaders Wednesday -- Barrick Gold climbed 34 cents to $44.61 while Goldcorp Inc. rose 44 cents to $47.98.
The energy sector lost some territory as the stronger greenback helped push the August crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange down.
A stronger greenback usually helps depress oil prices, which are denominated in U.S. dollars as it makes oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Canadian Natural Resources gave back 44 cents to $41.07 and Cenovus Energy declined 91 cents to $35.59.
The base metals sector fell with metal prices also weak as the September copper contract on the Nymex lost one cent to $4.33 U.S. a pound. Quadra FNX Mining was down 42 cents at $14.41 while First Quantum stepped back $2.85 to $140.15.
The tech sector was mixed with CGI Group ahead 23 cents to $23.24 while Research In Motion lost $1.09 to $26.75.
In corporate news, shares in troubled timber company Sino-Forest Corp. lost 56 cents to $4.93 after the company postponed a tour of the company’s operations in China for financial analysts.
The company has been accused of exaggerating its sales and assets by short-seller Muddy Waters Research.
Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. reversed a year-earlier loss and announced a fourth-quarter profit of $4 million Wednesday as the company reported record gold production for the quarter. Its shares gained 59 cents to $16.48.
The Churchill Corp. said its subsidiary, Stuart Olson Dominion Construction Ltd., has secured a construction manager contract for three hospitals in Alberta, valued at $421 million. Its shares ran ahead $1.39 to $18.29.
Speaking of things economic, Statistics Canada revealed this morning that the value of building permits rose 20.9% to $6.4 billion in May after a 21.5% decline in April.
The nation’s number crunchers report the advance was driven by higher construction intentions, particularly for commercial buildings in Quebec and Alberta and multi-family dwellings in Ontario.
Permits in the non-residential sector rose 50.9% to $2.7 billion after two consecutive monthly declines.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 22.22 points to 1,954.16, while the Nasdaq Canada index dipped 7.39 points to 556.67
In Toronto, gaining subgroups and losing ones were split down the middle. Gold led the seven winners, shining 1.3% brighter, while materials were 0.6% better and information technology stocks nipped 0.3%.
Energy stocks weighed heaviest on the seven laggards, as they shed 1.1% of their strength, while metals and mining descended 0.8% and global base metals were down 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks rose Wednesday after EU officials pushed back against recent downgrades of Greek and Portuguese debt, raising speculation that the union could move to minimize the impact of the ratings agencies.
The Dow Jones Industrials had gained 56.15 points by the closing bell to 12,626.
The S&P 500 gained 1.34 points to 1,339.22, and the Nasdaq Composite Index picked up 8.25 points to 2,834.02.
The Dow was supported by strength in industrial shares such as DuPont (DI), 3M and Caterpillar.
But the index was pressured by weakness in bank shares, as well as the stock of Verizon and Disney.
Bank of America fell 2.5%, after a group of small investors called Walnut Place filed court documents, saying it plans to challenge a proposed $8.5-billion U.S. settlement the bank announced last week with holders of mortgage-backed securities.
Disney fell over 1% after chief executive Bob Iger said the owners of Hulu are committed to selling the online video site, according to the Wall Street Journal. Disney a co-owner along with News Corp., Comcast and private equity firm Providence Equity Partners.
Verizon Wireless said it will eliminate the option for customers to consume unlimited data on their mobile phones without paying additional fees and move to usage-based data plans in June. Shares rose slightly.
Shares of News Corp. fell 4% amid speculation that the company could delay its takeover of Sky Broadcasting Group, due to the scandal surrounding alleged phone hacking by one of its British tabloid newspapers.
The afternoon rebound followed reports that European Union officials challenged the main credit rating agencies, which have been skeptical of EU efforts to stabilize troubled members of the monetary union.
Echoing comments made earlier by the German finance minister, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso suggested the ratings agencies have an anti-European bias and are fueling speculation in the financial markets, Reuters reported.
The comments were in response to a downgrade Tuesday by Moody's of Portugal's government debt.
Standard & Poor's also issued a report this week saying a voluntary restructuring of Greek debt by French and German banks would still qualify as a default, in their view.
China's central bank lifted interest rates Wednesday for the fifth time since October in an effort to combat inflation. The People's Bank of China said Tuesday that it will raise its one-year lending rate by a quarter percentage point to 6.56%.
China's incremental tightening has sparked fears that the government could squelch growth too much, causing the economy to crash land.
On the economic front, the number of planned job cuts rose 11.6% in June to 41,432 from May's 37,135, according to outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The Institute for Supply Management said its index of activity in the services sector fell in June, but remained above the level indicating expansion.
The ISM non-manufacturing index fell to 53.3 in June from 54.6 in May, the group said.
Economists were looking for the index to fall to 54, according to a consensus of estimates from Briefing.com.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury marched ahead Wednesday, pushing the yield down to 3.09% from 3.14% on Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for August delivery fell back 24 cents to $96.65 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for August delivery rose $16.30 to $1,529 U.S. an ounce.
