The Toronto stock market was slightly higher Wednesday, weighed down by falling gold stocks as a second day of profit-taking sent the precious metal tumbling more than $100 U.S.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index poked ahead 5.48 points by the close to 12,343.81.
The Canadian dollar regained 0.09 cents to 101.33 cents U.S.
The gold sector fell as gold prices fell after a string of record high closes that pushed bullion to just below the $1,900 U.S. mark on Monday, a gain of almost $300 U.S. or almost 19% from the beginning of August. Barrick Gold Corp. was down $1.73 to $48.37 while Goldcorp Inc. fell $1.99 to $48.80.
The financial group was up a day after Bank of Montreal delivered a strong earnings report.
National Bank, which hands in earnings Thursday, gained 59 cents to $72.35 while Royal Bank which reports Friday, gained $1.22 to $51.28.
The energy sector lost early momentum and was down. Suncor Energy rose 18 cents to $30.28 while Cenovus Energy gave back 55 cents to $33.99.
The base metals sector was down with copper unchanged at $4.00 U.S. a pound. Ivanhoe Mines lost 80 cents to $19.82 after surging 20% on Tuesday while First Quantum Minerals tailed off 10 cents to $20.90.
BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, said Wednesday its annual profit was up nearly 86% to $23.6 billion U.S. amid soaring prices for iron ore and copper but it warned that cost pressures could hurt its earnings in the longer term and its shares were up down 53 cents to $80.87 U.S.
Elsewhere on the corporate front, Research In Motion Ltd. also helped lift the TSX. Its shares advanced $1.07 to $28.25 after Bloomberg reported that the company is preparing a future slate of handsets to run apps designed for the Android mobile operating system designed by Google.
A division of CAE Inc. is paying $130 million U.S. to acquire Medical Education Technologies, Inc., which supplies medical simulation technologies and educational software. CAE shares were down seven cents to $10.10.
Afexa Life Sciences Inc. is reiterating its rejection of a hostile takeover bid by Montreal-based Paladin Labs Inc. The maker of the popular Cold-FX flu remedy says the unsolicited offer from Paladin is financially inadequate and not in the company’s best interests. Paladin shares perked 39 cents to $38.49 while Afexa shares were up one cent to 57 cents.
Economically speaking, the Conference Board of Canada’s consumer confidence index fell 6.6 points in August, the fourth consecutive monthly decline.
The Ottawa-based economic forecaster said its index of Canadian consumer confidence fell to 74.7, the lowest since July 2009.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell back 25.29 points to 1,735.58, while the Nasdaq Canada index moved forward 7.04 points to 500.86
In Toronto, nine of the 14 subgroups were higher on the day. Financials paced the gainers with an improvement of 1.5%, while health-care was 1.1% more robust and industrials picked up 0.6%.
Gold weighed the heaviest on the five laggards, shedding 3% of its strength, while materials were off 2%, and the metals and mining group slid 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks pulled higher at the end of the session Wednesday, as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's key speech later this week.
The Dow Jones Industrials strengthened 143.95 points, or 1.3%, to 11,320.70.
The S&P 500 was ahead 15.25 points to 1,177.60, while the Nasdaq regained 21.63 points to 2,467.69.
A 10% jump in shares of Bank of America helped keep the Dow and S&P 500 in positive territory.
In recent days, questions about Bank of America's balance sheet and its continued exposure to mortgage-related losses have kept investors on edge.
The Charlotte, N.C., bank's stock dropped 20% during the last four trading sessions, and is down more than 50% year-to-date. Now, though, experts say it may be underpriced.
Shares of other financials, including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs followed BofA's lead.
Gold-mining stocks took a tumble as shares of Barrick Gold and Goldcorp sank more than 4%, while Newmont Mining and Eldorado Gold were down more than 3%.
Google has agreed to a $500-million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice for illegally allowing online Canadian pharmacies to advertise drugs to U.S. consumers.
Applied Materials reports its quarterly results after the closing bell.
U.S. stocks rallied Tuesday, as weak U.S. economic data fueled hopes that the Fed may announce steps to jumpstart the sluggish economy at the Kansas City Fed's annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyo., on Friday.
At last year's meeting, Bernanke prepared the market for QE2 -- a bond-buying program that is widely credited for supporting stocks earlier this year.
While markets are hoping for Bernanke to say that QE3 is on the way at this year's event, most economists don't believe the Fed chief will signal any changes in monetary policy.
When the Fed pledged to keep rates low until mid-2013 earlier this month, three district bank presidents voted against the measure.
A housing market report was less upbeat. While U.S. home prices climbed a seasonally adjusted 0.9% in June, they are down 4.3% on an annual basis, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency index.
Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office said the United States is on track to accrue a $1.3-trillion U.S. deficit this year, marking the third straight year of $1 trillion-plus deficits.
CBO forecasts GDP at 2.4% for this year, 2.6% for 2012 and then an average of 3.6% for the next three years.
Economically speaking, orders for durable goods rose 4% in July, after slipping 1.3% the previous month, according to a report from the Commerce Department. The reading was better than economists' forecast for a 1.9% rise in orders.
Excluding volatile transportation orders, durable goods orders rose 0.7%. Economists were expecting the figure to fall 0.5%.
Durable goods, or items designed to last two years or longer, are typically purchased by consumers and corporations when they feel confident about the economy.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell sharply, lifting the yield to 2.26% from Tuesday’s 2.11%. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for October delivery backpedaled 15 cents to $85.29 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded $91.75 to $1,767.45 U.S. an ounce.
