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Mar. 8, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
The Toronto stock market was flat Monday afternoon as investors stepped back after sending the TSX up sharply higher last week.
The S&P/TSX composite index tailed off 11.30 points to end the day at 11,963.84, after positive bank earnings and higher commodity prices pushed the main index up by 3% last week to its highest level of 2010.
Earlier in the day, the index actually surpassed 12,000 before beginning its descent.
The gold sector was weakest of the bunch, as Barrick Gold Corp. declined 72 cents to $40.83.
Lower railway stocks pushed the industrial sector down with Canadian National Railways down 55 cents to $57.37.
The telecom sector rose, with Telus Corp. ahead 74 cents to $36.77.
Research In Motion Ltd. was a major source of support, up $4.04 to $75.59 after BMO Capital Markets upgraded the BlackBerry maker to "outperform" from "market perform" and lifted its price target on the New York Stock Exchange to $88 U.S. from $70 U.S. a share.
BMO said it expected a strong earnings report on March 31. And it added that "competition that we were expecting now seems further away."
The base metals sector was up even as May copper lost early gains and was unchanged at $3.42 U.S. a pound. FNX Mining was ahead 21 cents to $15.30 while Sheritt International climbed 12 cents to $8.55.
A subsidiary of China's largest utility company is planning to buy a 10% stake in Quadra Mining Ltd. for $151.6 million. The two companies will also create a joint venture mining company.
The Vancouver-based copper and gold producer also reported a $46.6-million U.S. profit in the fourth quarter and its shares gained 87 cents to $16.40.
The financials sector climbed, with Royal Bank up 61 cents to $58.60. Scotiabank which reports earnings Tuesday, edged up 22 cents to $50.07.
The energy sector nipped up, as Suncor Energy rose 19 cents to $32.07.
Oil has soared about 18% since Feb. 5 as investors become more convinced that a growing global economy will boost crude demand.
In other corporate news, shares in WestJet Airlines Ltd. declined two cents to $14.03 as the carrier unveiled its long-delayed credit card and frequent flyer programs. The airline is offering two different Royal Bank of Canada-branded MasterCard reward programs, through which cardholders can earn WestJet dollars on purchases.
In economic news, Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation said housing starts in the country rose a better-than-expected 6.1% in February. New home construction rose to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 196,700 units from a revised 185,000 units in January.
The Canadian dollar progressed 0.11 cents to 97.28 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but four of the 14 TSX subgroups ended the day in the red. Gold lost about 1.2%, industrials were down 0.8% and materials were 0.7% to the bad.
Of the four gaining groups, telecoms proved the champion, picking up 0.5%, followed by real-estate, 0.4% stronger, and information technology, stepping forward 0.3%.
The TSX Venture Exchange gained four points, however, to 1,561.93, while the Nasdaq Canada index added 28.67 points to 786.29.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks ended little changed Monday, although the Nasdaq composite edged its way to an 18-month high, as investors weighed corporate deals, a stronger dollar and weaker commodity prices ahead of key economic news due later in the week.
The Dow Jones industrial average swooned 13.68 points on the day to 10,552.52. The S&P 500 index slid 0.20 points to 1,138.50, but the Nasdaq composite ran ahead 5.86 points to 2,332.21, ending at its highest point since Sept. 2, 2008.
Stocks rallied Friday after a government report showed the economy lost fewer jobs in February than economists had expected.
But stocks drifted Monday as investors looked to a host of economic news due later in the week, including reports on state-by-state unemployment Wednesday, weekly jobless claims Thursday and retail sales Friday.
MetLife agreed to buy troubled insurer AIG American Life Insurance unit, known as Alico, in a $15.5-billion U.S. cash-and-stock deal. The deal was a positive, but not a surprise, as MetLife had confirmed last month that it was in talks with AIG.
It was AIG's second major sale in a week as the government-owned company looks to pay back over $100 billion U.S. in bailout money it took during the financial crisis.
MetLife will pay $6.8 billion U.S. in cash, with the remainder in company stock. The deal leaves AIG as Met's second-biggest shareholder, with a stake of over 20% in the company. Met shares gained 4.5% and AIG shares gained 4%.
In other deal news, Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina have made a bid to buy Australia's Arrow Energy for $3 billion U.S. in cash and stock. Royal Dutch already owns a 10% stake in Arrow.
Deal news tends to support stock gains in general, as it is seen as a sign of corporate confidence.
McDonald's said February same-store sales rose 4.8%, as strength in overseas markets offset weakness in the United States. The same-store sales measure is a retail metric that refers to sales at stores open a year or more. Shares of the Dow component rose 2.5%.
Tuesday brings the one-year anniversary of what many consider to be the bear-market low. On that day, the Dow and S&P 500 closed at 12-year lows and the Nasdaq closed at six-year lows.
Between March 9 and the 2010 rally high hit on Jan. 19, the S&P 500 gained 70%, the Dow gained 64% and the Nasdaq gained 44%.
Treasury prices dipped, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.70% from Friday's 3.68%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil regained 28 cents to $81.78 U.S.
Gold prices slid $11 to $1,125 U.S.