Mar. 6, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) --
12:27 pm EST
Early morning gains by equity markets slowly dissolved as the clock approached noon on Friday, as initial relief from U.S. job figures gave way to more pessimism.
Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index was off its highs at midday, though still in the black, about 20 points to 7,649.16
Many analysts believe there is little keeping stocks from falling even further as worries about the automotive and financial sectors continue to weigh on investors.
The Toronto financial sector was down, as CIBC shed 71 cents to $37.15.
The Bank of Nova Scotia has taken a majority interest in Five Continents Financial Ltd., a global asset management firm in the Cayman Islands. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed and Scotiabank shares were down 45 cents to $25.76.
The TSX energy sector plowed ahead as Suncor Inc.rose $1.44 to $27.64 and Canadian Natural Resources gained $1.75 to $42.26.
The base metals sector rose as Teck Cominco Ltd. improved 28 cents to $3.70.
Quadra Mining Ltd shares rose 16 cents to $3.75 after it reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $126.1 million U.S. compared to a year-earlier profit of $5.5 million. Revenues were negative $7.1 million compared to $81.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2007 as a result of plunging copper prices which led to negative price adjustments in the second half of 2008.
The gold sector rose as Goldcorp Inc.advanced 64 cents to $39.09.
Canadian autoparts maker Linamar Corp. has cut its quarterly dividend in half. The Ontario-based company reported a fourth-quarter loss Thursday and said it would pay a quarterly dividend of three cents per share, down from six cents in the previous quarter. Linamar shares fell 24 cents to $2.76.
SNC Lavalin Group Inc. reported fourth-quarter net income of $75 million, compared with a net income of $68.7 million for the same period in 2007. For all of 2008, the engineering giant reports $312.5 million in net income, compared with $153.2 million in 2007. SNC also announced a 25% increase to quarterly dividends. Its shares climbed 85 cents to $29.50.
Industrial waste management services provider Newalta Inc. said Friday it was cutting its dividend by 14 cents to five cents after reporting a drop in profits for both the most recent quarter and fiscal year. The company cited volatile markets and weak commodity prices and its shares slipped 57 cents to $3.13.
The Canadian dollar picked up 0.13 cents, to 77.71 cents U.S.
BAYSTREET
Of the 13 TSX sub-groups, 11 were up to start Friday. Energy stocks were up 3.7%, metals and mining were next in line, ahead 2.6% and financials cruised along, 1.4%
The two laggards were health-care stocks, down 1% and information technology, off 0.3%.
The TSX Venture Exchange was 3.92 points to the better, at 833.61, while the Nasdaq Canada index tailed off 3.97 points to 384.98
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones industrial average veered lower yet again by Friday noon, adding to multi-year lows, showing itself in the red 22.38 to 6,572.06
The S&P 500 index faded 3.75 to 678.80 while the Nasdaq composite index sank 17.23 to 1,282.36.
Both of those markets are perched in gullies dating back several years as well.
Friday, word came out from the U.S. Labor Department that the economy shed 651,000 jobs last month - just slightly above expectations - while the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 8.1% from 7.6% in January.
Revised data released Friday show U.S. job losses in December totaled 681,000, against the original 577,000 figure, while 655,000 jobs were lost in January, not the 598,000 originally reported. Many market participants, however, had braced for even grimmer data, shorting stocks earlier in the week. To short a stock means to bet it will fall.
Apple Inc. was a drag on the Nasdaq after analysts at JP Morgan recently lowered their price target for the company. Apple shares fell $5.49 to $83.35 U.S.
U.S. bank Wells Fargo & Co. has slashed its quarterly dividend 85%, to five cents a share from 34 cents, in an effort to save $5 billion U.S. Its shares climbed 47 cents to $8.59 U.S.
But JPMorgan Chase declined $1.18 to $15.42 U.S.
Dow component Coca-Cola said Friday it will invest an additional $2 billion U.S. in China over the next three years. That's in addition to a $2.4 billion U.S. bid for a Chinese juice maker that's being reviewed by the Beijing government
Treasury prices slipped, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.82% from 2.81% Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The April crude contract in New York rose 34 cents to $43.95 U.S. a barrel.
The April bullion contract in New York moved up $7.60 to $935.40 U.S. an ounce