North American stock markets were lower mid-afternoon as investors came around to the point of view that U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke won’t announce new stimulus measures in a key speech on Friday.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index settled 59.50 points to 12,284.30
The Canadian dollar closed fairly flat at 101.29 cents U.S.
Bernanke will deliver a speech just after North American markets open on Friday at an economic conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo. There had been hopes that he would use the occasion to announce further stimulus measures by the central bank to keep the U.S. economic recovery on the rails but expectations have faded.
Shares in rival Research In Motion were down 42 cents to $27.83 as the company said it is rolling out a new music-sharing service for BlackBerry customers who use the smartphone’s popular instant messenger. BBM Music is a cloud-based service that allows those using BlackBerry Messenger, or BBM, to access and share music.
The financial sector was down as National Bank turned in earnings which beat expectations. The Montreal-based bank handed in a $312-million profit in its fiscal third quarter, up 15% from the year earlier with the help of special items.
Excluding special items, the bank’s net income would have been $293 million, up 7%, resulting in $1.72 per share of profit, beating analyst estimates by a penny. But National Bank shares gave up early gains and later dipped $1.95 to $70.40.
Royal Bank, which reports earnings Friday, fell 67 cents to $50.61.
The TSX gold sector was positive group as Barrick Gold Corp. rose $1.09 to $49.34 while Goldcorp Inc. gained $1.19 to $49.95.
Oil prices were slightly higher, but Suncor Energy lost 73 cents to $29.55.
Natural gas giant Encana Corp. plans to sell its North Texas natural gas producing assets in the Barnett shale play as part of a divestiture plan that could raise up to $2 billion for the company. Its shares lost 89 cents to $24.00.
Niko Resources Inc. said its second-quarter revenue was down 15% from the same time last year, as gas production fell. The Calgary-based company reported a $54.9-million U.S. net loss for the second quarter, or $1.07 per share. Its shares fell $3.09 to $53.24.
The base metals sector was off as metal prices also advanced with the September copper contract in New York ahead eight cents to $4.08 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources eased $1.08 to $39.42 while First Quantum Minerals climbed 46 cents to $21.31.
Economically speaking, figures released this morning from Ottawa indicated that average non-farm weekly earnings eked up 0.3% in June from May month to $876.27. On a year-over-year basis, average weekly earnings were 3.0% higher than June 2010.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nosed ahead 3.90 points to 1,739.48, while the Nasdaq Canada index moved backward six points to 494.80
In Toronto, all but two of the 14 subgroups were lower on the day. Energy issues faded 2%, while information technology descended 1.8% and global base metals dipped 1.6%.
Gold led the gainers, up 2%, materials tacked on 1%
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks were lower Thursday afternoon, as investors hit the brakes following a three-day advance, and as nervousness about Europe's debt crisis returned to the spotlight.
The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 170.89 points, or 1.5%, to 11,149.80.
The S&P 500 eased 18.33 points to 1,159.27, while the Nasdaq dumped 48.06 points to 2,419.63.
Investors also grew anxious about Europe, amid rumours that ratings agencies may downgrade the credit rating in Germany -- Europe's largest economy.
Standard and Poor's, Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Services said Thursday that they did not have any updates to their AAA-rating on Germany.
This week's three-day stock advance in the U.S. has been attributed to investor hopes that Fed chief Ben Bernanke will announce steps on Friday to spur the faltering economy at the Kansas City Fed's annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
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.
Prior to Thursday's declines, the Dow and S&P 500 were up 4% this week, while the Nasdaq gained 3%.
Financial stocks were the biggest winners Thursday, as investors reacted to Warren Buffett's $5-billion U.S. bet on battered shares of Bank of America. The news was a welcome surprise, since Bank of America shares have been hammered recently and are down roughly 40% over the past month
Shares of the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank rallied 9%, making it the biggest gainer on the Dow and the S&P 500 indexes.
Other bank stocks were right behind BofA with healthy gains. Morgan Stanley and Citigroup were up between 3% and 4%, while US Bancorp and Wells Fargo also edged higher.
Meanwhile, shares of Apple dipped almost 1% after co-founder and two-time CEO Steve Jobs resigned late Wednesday.
Former Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook will replace Jobs, who will remain chairman of the second-most valuable company in the world.
Economically speaking, investors also digested the latest news on the labour market.
First-time claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected, as a dispute between Verizon Communications and its union employees caused thousands of workers to seek jobless benefits
Ongoing claims, which include people filing for the second week of benefits or more, dropped to the lowest level since September 2008.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note gained ground, lowering the yield to 2.22% from Wednesday’s 2.26%. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for October delivery shed 17 cents to $84.99 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery rose $12.50 to settle at $1,769.80 U.S. an ounce. Earlier, gold prices fell almost 3% to $1,705.40 U.S. an ounce, and prices tumbled 5% Wednesday. The weakness comes after a powerful rally in the gold market that sent prices skyrocketing above $1,900 U.S. an ounce earlier this week.
