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Apr. 15, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Canadian stocks ended little changed Thursday amid mixed performances among the sectors. While Industrials fared well, energy and gold stocks moved down. The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed 7.11 points higher at 12,211.52 Among industrials, railroads stocks turned in strong performances after UPS reported quarterly earnings that topped estimates and raised its forecast for the year. Canadian National Railway rose 1.75% and Transat .A.T gained 3.55%. Finning International was up 2.13%. Aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace gained 0.93%. The company said it clinched additional orders from Pluna Lineas Aereas Uruguayas S.A., which could increase the total contract value to $370 million from the present $120 million. The prices of crude oil and gold settled flat Thursday after lackluster trade. In the energy space, Husky Energy lost 2.39% and Petrobakken Energy slipped 2.19%. Among gold stocks, Barrick Gold gave in 1.18% and Iamgold lost 1.67%. In economic news, the Canadian Real Estate Association said existing home sales increased by 1.4% to 43,621 in March from February. The Canadian dollar dipped below its American cousin, sliding 0.47 cents to 99.73 cents U.S. ON BAYSTREET Nine of the 14 TSX subgroups ended the day lower. Global base metals were down 1.1%, while utilities sank 0.8%, and gold was off 0.7%. The five gainers were led upward by industrials, up 1.1%, while consumer discretionaries advanced 0.9%, and telecoms added 0.6%. The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 4.62 points to 1,679.50, while the Nasdaq Canada index eased 0.16 points to 808.81. ON WALLSTREET In New York, stocks ended positive Thursday to close a volatile session, as investors took the latest jobless claims report in stride and Google reported much better-than-expected earnings after the closing bell. The Dow Jones industrial average recovered 21.46 points to 11,144.57 The S&P 500 index gained 1.02 points to 1,211.67. The Nasdaq composite tacked on 10.83 points to 2,515.69. Stocks had sold off earlier in the session after the jobless claims report, which showed a surprise surge for the second week in a row. But the Labor Department attributed the jump to "technical" issues, including the Easter holiday. The indexes churned throughout the day. Stocks soared Wednesday on strong earnings and retail sales. The Dow and the S&P 500 both rose to their highest levels in more than 18 months, while the Nasdaq topped the 2,500 mark for the first time since June 2008. After the closing bell, Google reported quarterly sales and profit that trumped expectations. The search giant's net income was $1.96 billion U.S., or $6.06 U.S. per share, in the first quarter, up 38% $1.42 billion U.S. from the same period last year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected only $6.60 U.S. per share. Google shares rose 1% in after-hours trade. UPS pre-reported its quarterly results late Wednesday. The parcel delivery service said earnings per share jumped 33% to 53 cents, compared to 40 cents in the first quarter of last year. Shares rose 5.2%. Toyota said it is conducting safety tests on all of its sport utility vehicles after suspending worldwide sales of its Lexus GX 460 over rollover concerns. After the bell, news reports said the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether Hewlett-Packard executives paid nearly $11 million U.S. in bribes to secure a contract from a Russian official's office. Shares of HP fell 27 cents U.S., or 0.5%, to $54.25 U.S. in after-hours trade. Investors were also on edge as Greek bond yields spiked. Later this month, Athens plans to hold a sale of U.S.-dollar-denominated bonds, and analysts worry the demand could be smaller than anticipated. The report revived lingering worries that Greece will require more aid to stave off a possible default, though concerns were tempered earlier this week after from European Union officials announced a plan to provide an additional $40 billion U.S. in low-cost loans for the debt-stricken nation. The International Monetary Fund agreed to kick in $13.5 billion U.S. But the outlook for Greece still remains fraught, and whenever the nation's plight is in the news, investors tend to punish the euro and other investments that are considered high risk. Economically speaking, the U.S. Labor Department's weekly jobless claims report said there were 484,000 new claims filed last week, up 24,000 from the previous week. That was the highest level since the week ended Feb. 20 -- a disappointment, as economists had expected new claims to fall to 440,000. Initial claims also showed a surprise surge in last week's report. Separately, a report from RealtyTrac said there were more than 930,000 foreclosure filings in the first quarter of 2010, up 7% from the previous quarter. Filings were up 16% versus the first-quarter of 2009. Elsewhere, government figures showed that capacity utilization increased to 73.2% in March from 72.7% the previous month, slightly missing analysts' expectations of a jump to 73.3%. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's regional manufacturing survey showed the index jumped to 20.2 in April from 18.9 the previous month. Economists expected a reading of 20. Prices for U.S. Treasurys rose, with the yield on the 10-year note at 3.85%. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions The price of a barrel of oil backslid 33 cents to $85.51 U.S. Gold prices gained a dollar at $1,161 U.S. an ounce.