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Feb. 12, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
The Canadian market recovered Friday from earlier blows, with commodity stocks easing as China took another step towards tightening its monetary policy and the U.S. Dollar shot up following weak GDP numbers from the euro zone.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended the day up 34.32 points to finish the week at 11,469.81. Traders have Monday off for Family Day in Ontario.
The Gold Index lost ground, with Barrick Gold Corp. down 40 cents to $38.54 and Iamgold Corp. down 28 cents to $15.47.
The Financials Index subsided, with Manulife Financial Corp. losing 30 cents to $18.86 and Sun Life Financial Inc. shedding 31 cents to $30.09 while Bank of Montreal rose 36 cents to $53.85
Among energy stocks, Suncor Energy was down 53 cents to $30.68 while Encana Corp. added 37 cents to $33.44
In the technology sector, Research In Motion Ltd. rose $2.32 or 3.2% to $75.21 and MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. gained 94 cents, or 2.5% to $39.29
The Diversified Metals Index gave up territory as well, as Equinox Minerals Ltd. was down 14 cents, or 3.9%, to $3.46 and Lundin Mining Corp. lost 17 cents to $4.23
Medical equipment maker Noveko International Inc., which reported a net loss from continuing operations for the second-quarter, lost three cents to $1.15.
Vancouver-based Westport Innovations Inc., whose fourth-quarter net loss narrowed to $7.3 million from $8.9 million aided by a 24% increase in revenues, surged $1.59, or 13.5% to $13.35.
Labopharm Inc. plunged 41 cents 19.4% to $1.70 after announcing its plans to offer up to $20 million U.S. in stock and options to the public.
In economic news, Statistics Canada said New Motor Vehicle Sales increased 2.6% to 128,663 units in December, helped by higher sales in North American-built passengers cars.
The Canadian dollar decreased 0.05 cents to 95.12 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
The 14 TSX subgroups were evenly split between winners and losers. Those groups gaining ground were led by information technology, which prospered 1.2%, utilities, up 0.8%, and consumer staples, ahead 0.6%.
The losing groups were weighed by global base metals, sliding 1.6%, metals and mining stocks, off 1.2%, and gold, down 1.1%.
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 6.08 points to 1,498.75, while the Nasdaq Canada index moved upward 15.40 points to 755.81
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, the Dow tumbled Friday after China's bid to limit bank loans and slower-than-expected European growth raised worries about the global recovery. But a late-session run up in select techs gave the Nasdaq a boost.
The Dow Jones industrial average came off its lows, but still finished down on the day by 45.05 points to 10,099.14. The S&P 500 index staggered 2.96 points to 1,075.51 and the Nasdaq composite regained 6.12 points to 2,183.53.
A rallying greenback dragged on dollar-traded commodities, as well as companies that do a lot of business overseas and benefit from a weaker dollar.
Stocks had slumped heavily in the early morning, but managed to cut losses in the afternoon thanks to some gains in the tech sector.
Investors may have also been reluctant to sell too aggressively going into a long holiday weekend. All financial markets are closed Monday for Presidents Day.
Stocks surged Thursday after the European Union agreed to help out Greece, but the advance was a rare bright spot in what has been a tumultuous start to 2010.
On the upside, all three major gauges were set to end with a weekly gain, after declining for four weeks.
Wall Street extended 2009's rally through the middle of January, but lost steam soon after.
The Dow, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have all declined the past four weeks as better-than-expected corporate profit reports have been overshadowed by worries about China slowing its growth, U.S. plans to limit bank trading and European debt issues.
Also in play: the stronger dollar, which has pressured commodities and companies that do a lot of business overseas and therefore benefit from a weaker dollar.
Between rally highs hit Jan. 19 and the lows of last week, the S&P 500 lost over 9%, careening close to the 10% selloff that is the technical definition of a correction. The Dow's high-to-low was just over 7%. It stood about 100 points above the recent low as of 12 p.m. ET Friday.
China told banks to raise reserves for the second time in a month, in an effort to slow lending and contain any inflation threat that could set back the economic recovery.
The government boosted the reserve requirement for financial institutions by a half-percentage point to 16.5% for big lenders and 14.5% for small lenders. Rural lenders will see no change.
China kept its yearly target for bank lending unchanged, suggesting it isn't looking to cut back lending, so much as slow the pace.
European Union members meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday said Greece must do whatever is necessary to cut its huge budget deficit and that the group would be prepared to step in if needed.
In recent weeks, Greece's proposals to save money -- including cutting wages and raising the retirement age -- have prompted a series of worker strikes.
Although Greece's impact is small, the nation's financial problems have sparked fears of a broader debt crisis in Europe with Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Italy among the other euro zone nations seen as having growing debt problems.
U.S. investors have been trying to gauge what kind of impact such a crisis would have on financial institutions as well as the global economic recovery.
Meanwhile, a report showed that euro zone GDP growth in the fourth quarter was 0.1%, short of the 0.3% economists were expecting. Problems in Greece and a struggling German economy were among the factors dragging on growth.
European stocks slid Friday, with London's FTSE 100 down 0.4%, the German DAX barely lower and France's CAC 40 down 0.5%.
The B shares of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway were among the most actively-traded on the New York Stock Exchange Friday, with more than 71 billion shares changing hands.
The stock joins the S&P 500 after the close of trading. Stocks that join the broad index usually see strong volume leading up to the addition because S&P 500 fund managers are required to buy the stock.
Motorola gained 7% in heavy NYSE volume after announcing a long-in-the-works decision to split itself into two publicly-traded companies. Motorola is splitting its cell phone and cable set-top box business from its networking gear sales businesses.
The company said late Thursday it will complete the deal in the first quarter of 2011.
Economically speaking, investors also kept an eye on a stronger-than-expected report on retail sales.
The report on January retail sales, delayed by this week's snowstorms in Washington, showed that sales jumped 0.5%. Excluding automobiles, sales jumped 0.6%.
Retail sales were expected to have increased by 0.3% in January, according to a consensus of economist opinion compiled by Briefing.com. Retail sales, without automobiles, were expected to have increased 0.5% last month.
A separate report from the University of Michigan showed that consumer sentiment dipped to 73.7 in early February from 74.4 in late January. Economists thought it would rise to 75.
Treasury prices jumped, thus lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.69%, from 3.72% late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil fell $1.05 to $74.23 U.S.
Gold prices fell five dollars to $1,090 U.S.