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Mar. 12, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Gains were hard-earned on the Toronto stock market Friday afternoon, even as commodity stocks weakened in the wake of mixed signals about the health of the U.S. economy.
The S&P/TSX composite index put on a spurt before the end of the day, and gained 34.12 points by the final buzzer to 12,013.82, a pickup of more than 38 points on the week.
Stocks had been modestly higher at the start of trading Friday after a surprising increase in February retail sales. But investors are displeased with other data showing that business inventories were unchanged, rather than increased,
Analysts hope that businesses will restock store shelves on a consistent basis, which would be a positive signal for the U.S. economy.
The TSX energy sector was off per cent as the April crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange lost early gains and was down.
The tech sector was lower as Research In Motion Ltd. shed $1.06 to $76.66.
Rogers Communications was down 64 cents to $34.65, helping send the telecom sector down.
The TSX base metals sector maintained a slight gain as May copper was unchanged at $3.38 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources gained 42 cents to $41.45
The market was headed for a flat week as investors continue to consolidate a sharp 3% gain from last week.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar was ahead, having earlier surged as high as 98.47 cents U.S. -- its highest level since July 2008 -- following the release of jobs data for February that came in better than expected.
Statistics Canada said 21,000 jobs were created last month, better than the 15,000 that had been expected by many economists, while the unemployment rate fell by one percentage point to 8.2% from 8.3%.
The market also found support from sector heavyweight Potash Corp. Its shares ran up $7.97 to $127.70 as it raised its first-quarter earnings guidance due to a sharp rebound in potash demand.
The Saskatchewan-based company said it now expects to earn between $1.30 and $1.50 per share for first three months of the year, up from earlier guidance of 70 cents to $1 per share.
The TSX failed to benefit from the Alberta government's announcement that it is cutting the royalties it charges the oil and gas industries.
The maximum royalty rate for both natural gas and oil had been 50%. But the Alberta government said Thursday the cap will be lowered to 40% for oil and 36% for gas.
The TSX Gold Index faltered as the April gold contract on the Nymex was down. Barrick Gold Corp. faded 20 cents to $39.85.
Fertilizer producer Agrium Inc. gained after it announced that its hostile takeover bid for U.S. company CF Industries Holdings Inc. will be allowed to expire. Agrium shares climbed $4.95 to $73.28.
Agrium had offered $45 U.S. in cash plus one of its shares for each CF share in a bid that valued Illinois-based company at nearly $5.5 billion U.S. However the offer was contingent on CF dropping its own takeover bid for Iowa-based fertilizer producer Terra Industries Inc., which is now in favour of the CF deal.
In other corporate news, First Uranium Corp. shot up 18 cents, or 12.1%, to $1.67 after it said it will issue between $125 million and $150 million in secured, convertible debt to several parties including current shareholder groups.
The Toronto-based company warned last month that its financial condition had been "severely compromised" by problems getting government environmental approval for a future storage facility in South Africa.
Goldcorp Inc. earned a profit of $66.7 million U.S. in its latest quarter as revenue grew nearly 30% from a year ago. Its shares declined 81 cents to $40.06.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.59 cents at 98.21 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, 10 were on the downside to end the week. Health-care issues lost 1.3%, followed by gold, off 1.2% and telecoms, sinking 0.7%.
The four gainers were led higher by materials, ahead 0.8%, while the metals and mining group tied with consumer discretionaries, each up 0.6%.
The TSX Venture Exchange surged 7.35 points to 1,568.29, while the Nasdaq Canada index ducked 3.12 points to 807.66.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks churned Friday afternoon, as investors welcomed a report that showed a surprise rise in retail sales, but showed caution as the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 hovered near 18-month highs.
The Dow Jones industrial average finished the day on the plus side by 12.85 points at 10,624.99, or 58 points on the week. The S&P 500 index slipped 0.25 points to 1,149.99, and the Nasdaq composite moved backward 0.80 points to 2,367.66.
Stocks have risen modestly over the last two weeks as investors have struggled to balance expectations for a broader economic recovery with the reality of more modest signs of improvement.
Through Thursday's close, the Dow has risen in eight of the last 10 sessions, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have risen in nine of the last 10 sessions.
Experts said the upward bias in the market should enable stocks to continue to drift higher over the next few weeks, but that any gains are going to be capped by continued concerns about the economic outlook both in the U.S. and overseas.
On the economic ledger, the Commerce Department's monthly report on retail sales showed a 0.3% increase. That surprised economists who expected sales to fall 0.2% in February, according to Briefing.com, following a 0.5% dip in January.
The Reuters/University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment fell to 72.5 in early March from 73.6 in the previous month. Economists had expected the index to climb to 74.
A Census Bureau report showed that January business inventories were unchanged from the month before, versus a forecasted rise of 0.1%.
A report by a U.S. bankruptcy court-appointed examiner blamed the collapse of Lehman on the bank's executives and its auditor.
The conduct of Lehman executives "ranged from serious but non-culpable errors of business judgment to actionable balance sheet manipulation," examiner Anton Valukas said in the report.
Treasury prices moved slightly upward, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.70% from 3.71% late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil slid 90 cents to $81.21 U.S.
Gold prices fell a dollar to $1,107 U.S.