Business
TSX struggles for direction
TSX struggles for direction
About this update from Imperial Oil Limited
[{"type":"text","content":"\nTSX struggles for direction\n\nGold stocks settle\n Jan. 14, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) -- After edging higher at the open, Toronto stocks were struggling to sustain any direction in morning deals Thursday, amid mixed earnings news from Canadian companies. Also, relatively discouraging retail sales and jobs data from south of the border weighed on sentiment. \n\nThe S&P/TSX Composite Index faced noon off 60.62 points to 11,792.94. \n\nCanadian stocks have been reflecting weakness since briefly rising above the 12,000 mark for the first time since 2008 on Monday. Weakness in commodity prices has put pressure on oil and gold stocks.\n\nThe Gold Index was down, as Goldcorp lost 1.06% after Barrick Gold said it will sue to halt Goldcorp's planned acquisition of a 70% stake in El Morro copper-gold project in Chile. Barrick Gold also eased 1.22%.\n\nKirkland Lake Gold slipped 2.86% after reports said the company will sell at least 2.4 million units at $8.25. \n\nOn the other hand, SouthGopi Energy rose 1.42% on news that China Investment Corp and Temasek Holding will subscribe $50 million each to the company's $387 million initial public offering in Hong Kong.\n\nEnergy stocks edged higher, despite weaker crude prices that were struggling to move past the $80 U.S. mark. \n\nBaytex Energy gained 1.35% and Imperial Oil was up 0.42%.\n\nTelecommunication service provider Shaw Communications edged down 0.5% after reporting lower earnings of $0.26 a share in first quarter, compared to $0.29 in the year ago period.\n\nClothing and accessories retailer West 49 Inc. slipped 4% after it said its net sales for the five-week period ended January 2, 2010 increased 5.7% to $36.8 million from a year-ago period.\n\nThe Canadian dollar gained 0.57 cents to 97.57 cents U.S. \n\nON BAYSTREET \n\nAll but three of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower by noon. Gold was the chief loser, off 1.4%, materials were down 1.2%, and industrials were off 0.8%. \n\nThe three gainers were information technology, up 1.6%, while health-care and consumer discretionaries gained 0.1% each. \n\nThe TSX Venture Exchange slid 0.71 points to 1,592.50, while the Nasdaq Canada index added 11.22 points to 742.10.\n\nON WALLSTREET\n\nIn New York, stocks inched higher near midday Thursday as investors set aside worse-than-expected reports on retail sales and jobless claims and opted to sco...