CPI down in Canada
Apr. 23, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Bay Street stocks may move in a narrow range Friday amid flat commodities prices. Traders were digesting the just released data, which revealed the country's annual inflation unexpectedly slowed in March. The S&P/TSX Composite Index stumbled to start Friday's session, giving back 10.37 points, to 12,150.50 However, sentiment in early trading may be lifted on news that Greece opting for bailout loans from the euro zone and the IMF. In corporate news, International Forest Products reported a narrower first quarter loss of $0.07 per share, compared to a loss of $0.29 in the year-ago period. Sears Holdings said it will buy another 17.3% stake in merchandising company Sears Canada by purchasing 18.7 million shares at $30 each. This would take up its total stake to 90.4%. Copper miner Lions Gate Metals and AusNiCo said they will terminate the proposed merger agreement, due to lengthy due diligence and regulatory delays, a blockade at LGM's proposed drill program site and market volatility. Sterling Shoes Income Fund announced that Jeremy Horwitz has resigned as President and Chief Executive Officer effective Thursday for personal reasons. Gold producer OceanaGold Corp. announced that it has appointed Bill Myckatyn to Board of Directors In economic news, Statistics Canada said the country's annual inflation rate slowed to 1.4% in March from 1.6% the previous month. The agency noted that gasoline prices exerted the most upward pressure on the all-items consumer price for a fifth straight month. In other report released today, the agency said retail sales in Canada were up 0.5% in February from the previous month, following January's 0.9% increase. Excluding auto, retail trade slipped 0.1% on a monthly basis compared to the consensus forecast of 0.8% increase. The Canadian dollar docked 0.56 cents to 99.43 U.S. ON BAYSTREET Of the 14 TSX subgroups, seven were in positive territory to begin Friday. Information technology was the leader, ahead 0.6%, followed by metals and mining stocks, up 0.3%, and health-care, gaining 0.2%. The half-dozen laggards were weighed by financials, docking 0.4%, gold stocks, off 0.2%, and energy issues, down 0.1%. The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 1.97 points to 1,650.08, while the Nasdaq Canada index fell 0.76 points to 791.80. ON WALLSTREET In New York, stocks also slid a bit Friday after Greece officially activated an emergency financial aid package and investors remained encouraged by a spate of upbeat corporate results. The Dow Jones industrial average emerged from the blocks Friday down 16.32 points to 11,117.97. The S&P 500 index eased 1.72 points to 1,206.95. The Nasdaq composite index fell 1.89 points to 2,517.18. Stocks posted modest gains Thursday as investors mulled concerns about Greece, a stronger dollar and a plunge in commodity prices. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou formally announced Friday that his nation will seek aid from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. European finance leaders pledged earlier this month that Greece could receive, if necessary, as much as $40 billion at a 5% interest rate. The IMF is prepared to lend Greece $13 billion U.S. Fears that Greece will not make its May 19 deadline for refinancing about $11.4 billion U.S. in debt grew Thursday after Moody's cut its bond rating on Greece. A separate report showed that Greece's deficit may be worse than previously estimated. So far, the first-quarter corporate reporting period has been better than expected, with 85% of companies in the S&P 500 beating earnings expectations.. Honeywell will reported higher first-quarter operating earnings and revenue early Friday. After the market closed Thursday, Microsoft posted a higher quarterly profit that surpassed forecasts, due to a continued strong response to it Windows 7 operating system, introduced six months ago, as well as its Bing search engine. Micrpsoft shares eased less than 1% in premarket trading. Also late Thursday, Amazon.com reported earnings that jumped 68% from a year earlier, surpassing forecasts, on higher sales that also beat expectations. Amazon shares fell 4% in premarket trading. Economically speaking, the government said orders for durable goods fell 1.3% in March. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected orders for long-lasting manufactured goods, such as refrigerators and airplane parts, rose 0.1% last month. In February, durable goods orders rose 1.1%. A report on new home sales in March was due after the market opens. Economists anticipate a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 330,000 units in March, up from 308,000 in February. Treasury prices lost ground, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.81%, from Thursday's 3.77%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. The price of a barrel of oil was down 50 cents at $83.20 U.S. Gold prices lost six dollars to $1,137 U.S. an ounce.
