Translate
Dec. 8, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) --
Canadian stocks remain notably lower on Tuesday as gold continues to see weakness on the Comex. The Bay Street market followed the lead of stocks of Europe and the U.S.
The S&P/TSX Composite was off 120.70 points, or 1.1% on the day, to its fourth straight negative close, at 11,368.93.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada maintained its key interest rate at a record low of 0.25% nd reiterated that it expects to leave the rate at its current level until the end of the second quarter of 2010.
Gold stocks and materials dropped as the precious metal lost another $20 on the Comex. Barrick Gold dropped 3.4% to $43.10 and Iamgold fell 3.9% to $17.73.
Eldorado Gold slipped 2.7% to $12.46. The company announced that Earl Price will retire as the company's Chief Financial Officer, effective December 31. Ed Miu has been named as his successor.
Also among materials stocks, fertilizer maker Agrium gained 2.8% to $65.55 after the stock was upgraded to "outperform" from "market perform" at BMO Capital Markets.
Mining stocks have lost Teck Resources dropped 2.4% to $34.84 after the ompany said it expects coal production of 20 million tonnes and sales of 19.5-20 million tonnes for 2009, at the lower end of previously announced guidance.
Financials have dropped 1.3%. Scotiabank slipped 2.1% to $47.61 after the company reported fourth quarter net income of $853 million or $0.83 per share, compared to $283 million or $0.28 per share last year. Analysts were looking for EPS of $0.87.
Quest Capital is up 3.5% to $1.20 after the company announced that it has made a second $10 million payment toward the repurchase and retirement of its First Preferred Shares, Series A, leaving an outstanding balance of $20 million of Preferred Shares.
Pinetree Capital dropped 4.4% to $2.18 after the company announced that it has acquired about 3.3 million common shares of Copper Mesa Mining, which represents approximately 3.0% of the total shares.
UTS Energy Corp said effective December 31, Dennis Sharp will step down as Chairman and will continue to serve as a director of UTS. Sharp has been Chairman of the UTS Board of Directors since 2006. The stock was down 1.4% to $2.10.
Cameco dropped 4.7% to $31.17 after stock was downgraded to "market perform" from "outperform" at BMO Capital Markets.
Meanwhile, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported Canadian housing starts rose to 158,500 units, from 157,400 in the prior month.
The Canadian dollar stumbled 0.74 cents to 94.29 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but three of the 14 TSX subgroups were negative, led lower by gold, down 2.7%, while materials were off 2.2% and metals and mining, losing 2.1%.
The three gainers were industrials, picking up 0.5%, information technology, gaining 0.3% and telecoms, up 0.04%.
The TSX Venture Exchange skidded 32.16 to 1,402.24, while the Nasdaq Canada index was up 1.83 points to 673.21.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, Stocks tumbled Tuesday afternoon across the board, as investors eyed weak global markets, a rising dollar, falling oil and gold prices and some disappointing profit news from 3M, McDonald's and Kroger.
The Dow Jones Industrials trailed Monday's close by 104.14 points to 10,285.97, while the S&P 500 faded 11.31 points to 1,091.94, while the Nasdaq gave back 16.62 points to 2,172,99.
Stocks slipped right out of the gate as investors took a cue from falling global markets and a rising dollar.
The weak dollar has added to stock gains over the last nine months, but for the last two weeks, the greenback has started to make a comeback versus the euro. The U.S. dollar has remained weak against the yen.
A stronger dollar pressures dollar-traded commodities and commodity stocks, as well as companies that do a lot of business overseas and therefore benefit from a weak U.S. currency.
Stocks ended mixed Monday as comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cooled worries about higher interest rates but failed to overshadow the stronger dollar and weaker commodities.
President Obama outlined a new multi-billion-dollar jobs plan and stimulus proposal late Tuesday morning, in a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
Obama said he wants to expand tax breaks for small businesses, invest in infrastructure profits and give consumers rebates for making their homes more energy efficient. Funds would come from the $200 billion U.S. in unallocated bailout money -- some of which would also be used to pay down the deficit.
Dow component 3M issued a 2010 profit forecast in a range that meets or beats analysts' expectations. The diversified conglomerate also reiterated that 2009 earnings would fall in a range of $4.50 to $4.55 U.S. per share versus analysts' forecasts of $4.57. Shares fell 1%.
Fellow Dow component McDonald's said sales at U.S. stores open a year or more, a retail metric known as same-store sales, fell 0.6% in November, the second monthly decline in a row. Shares fell 2%.
Kroger said it swung to a fiscal third-quarter loss from a profit a year ago. The grocery store chain also cut its full-year forecast and cut its target for same-store sales growth. Shares fell 10%.
Procter & Gamble Chairman A.G. Lafley is retiring in January, the company said Tuesday. His position will be filled by Bob McDonald, the company's CEO. McDonald replaced Lafley as CEO in July.
Treasury prices shot higher, dropping yields to 3.39% from Monday's 3.43%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil lost $1.31 to 72.68 cents U.S.
Gold prices skidded $21 to $1,143 an ounce U.S.