TSX streak over

Feb. 22, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --

Weakness in resources, energy and financials stocks pulled the Canadian market more into the red in afternoon trade Monday. The S&P/TSX composite index was down 74.54 points on the day, to 11,634.75. Profit booking emerged amid choppy trading, in the absence of any leading news or economic releases, after the market gained over 5% in a spell that lasted eight days in a row. The Energy Index was down, even as the price of crude oil hovered near $80 a barrel. Encana Corp. lost 2.6% to $33.87 and Suncor Energy Inc. shed 1.2% to $31.55. The Gold Index was down, with Barrick Gold Corp. off 2.3% to $40.07, Iamgold Corp. down 2.6% to $15.21. Goldcorp Inc. shed 1.5% to $39.70. PC Gold Inc. surged 20.75% to 64 cents after the miner reported deep drilling below the Shaft 1 workings of its Pickle Crow gold mine returned the highest grade gold intersection on record for this structure. Linear Gold Corp. which announced the interception of a gold zone in its Goldfields mine development project in Saskatchewan, rose 3.7% to $1.97. Among financials stocks, Royal Bank of Canada was down 0.9% to $56.60 and Sun Life Financial Inc. lost 1.8% to $30.70, while IGM Financial Inc gained 1.2% to $43.11. The sentiment in the sector was cautious as Canadian banks are expected to release their quarterly earnings starting from this week. The Health Care Index gave up strength, as Biovail Corp lost 0.8% to $15.50 and MDS Inc. eased 0.5% to $8.65. In the IT sector, Open Text Corp. gained 1.9% to $50.16 and Celestica Inc. added 0.5% to $11.12, while Research In Motion Ltd. lost 1.9% to $72.60. No major economic data were released Monday in Canada as well as the U.S. The Canadian dollar slid 0.35 cents to 95.91 cents U.S. ON BAYSTREET Of the 14 TSX subgroups, eight were down on the day, weighed down mostly by gold's 1.7% decline, materials' 1.1% drop and a 0.9% descent by energy stocks. Telecoms led the five upward groups, gaining 0.3%, while metals and mining stocks were tied with information technology for the runner-up spot, each ahead 0.2%. Consumer discretionaries were flat. The TSX Venture Exchange stumbled 3.43 points to 1,528.47, while the Nasdaq Canada index lost 10.38 points to 745.88. ON WALLSTREET In New York, equities ended a choppy session lower Monday as investors weighed earnings news, President Obama's health care proposal and Schlumberger's $11-billion U.S. buyout deal for oil services rival Smith International. The Dow Jones industrial average backpedaled 18.97 points to close at 10,383.38. The S&P 500 index tailed off 1.16 points to 1,108.01, and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.84 points to 2,242.03. Experts said investors were eying the deal and earnings news, the direction of the dollar and commodity prices. Investors may have also taken comfort from signs that regulatory changes being proposed in Washington will be milder than feared, he said, including the provisions in President Obama's health care plan, announced Monday. Stocks ended higher last week as investors digested the Federal Reserve's decision to lift the emergency bank lending rate. Stocks also posted gains for the second week in a row after four weeks of declines. But after that advance, stocks are bound to be volatile this week amid ongoing concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy. Reports are due on housing, jobs and GDP growth. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before Congress Wednesday and Thursday. Lawmakers meet in Washington later this week to discuss the Toyota recall, bank health and fiscal stimulus. Schlumberger said it was buying fellow oil driller Smith International in an all-stock deal worth $11 billion U.S. The two companies' boards of directors have already approved the deal and shareholders are expected to follow suit. Schlumberger shares fell 3% and Smith shares gained 9%. In other company news, Lowe's reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, and said sales would keep rising in the current year. However, shares of the home improvement retailer were little changed. Shares of Dow component Bank of America rose 2% after a judge approved the proposed $150-million U.S. settlement between the financial firm and the Securities and Exchange Commission. New credit card rules aimed at protecting consumers went into effect Monday. However, the regulations could result in consumers facing new charges and additional fees as the industry looks to offset the lost revenue. President Obama presented his outline for health care reform Monday, ahead of the bipartisan health care summit later this week. The 10-year, nearly $1-trillion U.S. plan would purportedly cover more than 31 million Americans currently not insured without adding to the budget deficit. The plan also allows the government to shoot down or roll back insurance premium hikes. A survey from the National Association for Business Economics showed that most leading economists think the recovery will remain on track. Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.79% from 3.77% late Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. The price of a barrel of oil moved upward by 23 cents to $80.04 U.S. Gold prices gave back nine dollars to $1,113 U.S.