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Apr. 8, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Canadian stocks continued to slip from their 18-month high for a third session in mid-morning deals Thursday amid widespread selling. The S&P/TSX Composite Index greeted noon way up from its lows of the day, but still behind 43.07 points to 12,067.83. The main index had settled above the 12,000-mark in the past seven sessions. Renewed concerns over the Greece debt situation, retreating commodities prices and a discouraging weekly jobs data from across the border weighed on sentiment and prompted traders to book profits. Meanwhile today, CIBC upped its first-quarter economic growth estimates by a percentage point to 5.1% and said the country's central bank will raise its key interest rate by July. Base metals stocks were under pressure, with Teck Resources down 2.09% and Inmet Mining slipped 1.75%. In the energy space, Suncor Energy lost 1.19% and Encana Corp. was down 1.40%. Newly listed oil explorer Athabasca Oil Sands eased 2.22%. The company raised $1.35 billion in Canada's biggest initial public offering since 1999. Among gold stocks, Centerra Gold lost 9.42%. The company today confirmed that operations at its Kumtor mine, in the Kyrgyz Republic, continue uninterrupted and are currently unaffected by the unrest in the country. BMO reduced its rating on the stock to "Market Perform" from "Outperform" Iamgold was down 1.40%. Financial stocks were also under pressure, with Scotiabank (BNS.TO) and RBC losing nearly 1% each Shoppers Drug Mart plummeted 9.59% after the company said it would have to restructure dramatically under a plan by the Ontario government to cut the price of generic medications to 25% of the equivalent brand-name drug, from 50%. RBC trimmed the price target on the stock to $48 from $52. Retail stores operator Loblaw Companies was down 2.38%. The company said it will repurchase of up to 13.86 million of common shares, by way of a normal course issuer bid. On the positive side, dollar store operator Dollarama Inc. gained 5.90%. The company reported improved fourth-quarter net earnings at $0.45 per share, compared to $0.15 per share in the year-ago period. For the full year, the company reported earnings of $1.37 per share compared to a loss of $0.36 in the previous year. Analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.37 per share. Pebble Creek Mining Ltd. announced that it has appointed William Sheppard as Vice President, Exploration. The Canadian dollar picked up 0.15 cents to 99.72 cents U.S. ON BAYSTREET All but one of the 14 TSX subgroups remained negative by midday, weighed down mostly by a 2.8% drop by consumer staples. Information technology was next-worst off, at 1.4%, while consumer discretionary stocks suffered 0.7%. The lone gainer was industrials, inching up 0.1%. The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 5.28 points to 1,641.90, while the Nasdaq Canada index slid 1.96 points to 776.18 ON WALLSTREET In New York, equities declined Thursday morning as a rise in weekly jobless claims and revived worries about Greece and other euro zone debt issues countered any enthusiasm about some upbeat sales reports from the nation's retailers. The Dow Jones industrial average was lighter by 7.56 points by noon to 10,889.96. The S&P 500 dumped 0.76 points to 1,181.69. The Nasdaq gained ground on the morning, but was still off 3.25 points to 2,427.91. U.S. stocks retreated Wednesday after General Motors reported a huge loss and a report showed a drop in consumer borrowing. UAL's United Airlines and US Airways have restarted talks about a potential merger, according to several news reports. The deal would create the second-largest U.S. airline, the reports said. Stocks of other major airlines were higher in the early going. A number of retailers reported strong March sales thanks in part to the early Easter this year. Among the standouts, TJX said sales at stores open a year or more rose 12% in the month. As a result, the retailer raised its current quarter profit outlook. But some companies warned that a strong March will chip away at April sales. Kohl's said its strong 22.5% jump in March will be followed by a decline in April. Economically speaking, there were 460,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended April 3, up 18,000 from an upwardly revised 442,000 the previous week, according to the Labor Department's weekly report. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected 442,000 claims. The number of new claims was just below the level reached in the Feb. 27 week, when initial claims totaled 466,000. U.S. Treasurys tumbled sharply, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.86% from Wednesday's 3.96%. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. The price of a barrel of oil lagged yesterday's close by 40 cents to $85.46 U.S. Gold prices were flat at $1,153 U.S. an ounce.