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Mar. 19, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Canadian stocks may open lower Friday on easing commodities prices.
Soon after Friday's opening bell, the S&P/TSX composite index fell back 39.98 points, to end the day at 12,000.03.
Also the just released inflation data, which came in above the economists' expectations, could increase speculation for a sooner-than-expected rate hike and in turn put pressure on the stocks, in general. Moreover profit taking at higher levels as the main index was hovering near its calendar year high could also put pressure
The price of oil eased for the second day. Oil and gas industry services provider Flint Energy Services turned to profit reporting fourth quarter net income of $0.32 per share, compared to a loss of $4.44 per share in the prior-year period.
Transportation services provider Student Transportation said it has acquired Wilkerson Transportation Co. Inc., and expects this to add annualized revenues of $3 million.
Retail stores operator Dollarama Inc. announced the appointment of Michael Ross as new Senior Vice President, CFO and Secretary, effective April 12.
African Barrick Gold plc announced that it will price its initial public offerings of 101.08 million new Ordinary Shares to institutional investors in the UK and elsewhere at 575 pence per Ordinary Share. The net proceeds, expected to be approximately £547 million, will be used to repay loans outstanding to Barrick Gold Corp. and its subsidiary companies.
Gold explorer Eldorado Gold reported net income of $0.26 per share for the full year 2009, compared to $0.46 per share for the full year 2008.
Gold producer Aurizon Mines turned to profit reporting fourth quarter net earnings of $0.06 per share, compared to a net loss of $0.03 per share last year.
Agnico-Eagle Mines announced a private placement of senior secured notes aggregating $600 million.
Iron ore mining company Baffinland Iron Mines said that its President and CEO, Gordon McCreary, has resigned as an executive of the Company, effective immediately, and will continue as a director of the company.
Base and precious metal miner Anvil Mining swung to profit in fourth-quarter reporting net income of $0.08 per share, compared to a loss of $2.12 in the prior-year quarter.
Footwear retailer Sterling Shoes Income Fund reported lower net income for the fourth quarter at $0.82 per share, compared to $0.90 per share for the year-ago quarter.
Infrastructure sector services provider Armtec Infrastructure Income Fund reported earnings from operations of $6 million for the fourth quarter, down from $11.7 million in the year-ago quarter. However, earnings per unit improved to $0.40 from $0.36 in the prior-year quarter.
Oil and natural gas company Iteration Energy reported narrower fourth-quarter net loss of $0.04 per share, compared to net loss of $1.48 per share last year.
In brokerage updates, UBS hiked its price target on Agrium to $83 from $72 and Raymond James upped MacDonald Dettwiler price target to $44 from $42.
In economic news, Statistics Canada reported that consumer prices rose 1.6% in the 12 months to February, following a 1.9% jump in January. The growth in inflation surpassed economists' expectations for a rise of 1.4%, putting pressure on the Bank of Canada to hike interest rates sooner than expected.
In other reports, the agency said retail sales rose 0.7% in January to $35.70 billion, largely due to sales in home improvement products.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.45 cents to 98.99 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Eight of the 14 TSX subgroups were down soon after Friday's session began. Materials were off 0.9%, the gold and metals and mining groups slid 0.7% each.
Health-care was the strongest group of the five gainers, up 0.3%, while telecoms and real-estate marched doggedly ahead 0.2% each. Consumer discretionaries were flat at the outset.
The TSX Venture Exchange retreated 0.27 points to 1,574.59, while the Nasdaq Canada index added 1.28 points to 802.98.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks were poised to open little changed Friday, as investors remain reluctant to place big bets following the recent run up.
The Dow Jones industrial average moved ahead 30.23 points at the outset to 10,809.40. The S&P 500 index gained 2.58 points to 1,165.83, while the Nasdaq composite tacked on 3.65 points to
2,394.93.
Markets may also be a bit volatile due to quadruple witching -- a quarterly event when stock index futures and options and individual stock futures and options all expire at the same time.
Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance and offer an indication of how markets may open when trading begins.
Stocks closed mostly higher Thursday, with all three major indexes ending at an 18-month high, as investors welcomed reports that suggest pricing pressure remains mild and that jobless claims fell last week.
No economic reports were on tap for Friday, after Thursday's heavy influx of data on inflation, jobless claims and manufacturing.
Quadruple witching can lead to wide fluctuations in prices of the underlying stocks and increased volatility in the broader market. But recently the witching's impact tends to be spread throughout the week, rather than hitting in the last hour of the session Friday, as was once the case.
After the closing bell Thursday, smart phone maker Palm reported a loss of 61 cents U.S. per share for the quarter ended Feb. 28. Analysts expected a loss of only 43 cents U.S. per share.
Palm has not posted a quarterly profit since the fourth fiscal quarter of 2007.
Treasury prices dropped, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.69% from Thursday's 3.67%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil fell 28 cents to $81.92 U.S.
Gold prices slid two dollars to $1,125 U.S.