Jan. 12, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
After opening lower, Canadian stocks continued to linger in the red Tuesday morning.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index had fallen 85.78 by noon to 11,861.35.
Losses were more pronounced among energy and gold stocks, reflecting weakness in the commodity prices. Yesterday, the main index ended flat even after moving past the 12,000 mark in morning session as traders opted to take profits.
The Energy Index slipped as the price of crude oil dipped near the $81 U.S. mark after hitting a new 15-month high in the previous session. Canadian Natural Resources shed 1.10% and Petrobakken Energy gave in 1.02%.
Grande Cache Coal Corp. eased 1.47% even after it raised its production target for 2010 by 6% to between 1.6 million and 1.8 million tonnes.
Meanwhile, the bullion eased, putting pressure on gold stocks. Anglo Gold surrendered 2.90% and Randgold lost 0.64%.
However, Goldcorp. was up 0.50%. Yesterday, Brazil based Minera Penmont, said it has opted out of the takeover bid of Canplats Resources. Since last month, Goldcorp. and Penmont have been competing to acquire Canplats.
Discount retailer Dollarama Inc. slipped 1.61% after some of its shareholders, including Bain Capital LLC, plan to divest nearly 12 million shares at $21.50 to a group of banks.
Satellite component maker COM DEV International shed 2.54% after reporting a dip in its fourth quarter earnings at $0.01 per share from $0.07 per share in the year-ago quarter.
Matrikon Inc. gathered 8.62% despite announcing flat quarterly earnings of $0.09 per share. However, Velan Inc., which also posted flat third-quarter earnings of $0.34 per share, shed 0.63%.
Forestry plantation operator Sino-Forest Corp. rose 1.71% after it said its wholly-owned subsidiaries acquired China based engineered wood product maker, Homix Limited for $7.1 million.
CanWest Global Communication was almost flat, surrendering an 8% gain seen in very early dealings. Four companies have lined up to take a potential stake in CanWest Global, the Globe and Mail reported today.
The Real Estate Index was down a marginal 0.10% as traders were digesting mixed flow of data from this sector. Today, Statistics Canada said home prices rose 0.4% in November, indicating growth in the housing market.
In economics news, Statistics Canada said today that the country's merchandise exports jumped 1.1%, while imports rose 3.9% in November. This had pushed the nation's deficit to $344 million in November from a surplus of $503 million in the earlier month. In another report, it said home prices rose 0.4% in November, indicating growth in the housing market.
The Canadian dollar gave back 0.40 cents to 96.36 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but three of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower by midday. Global base metals fell 3.2%, followed by metals and mining, down 2.6% and materials surrendered 1.7%.
The three gainers were telecoms, up 0.8%, utilities, ahead 0.1% and consumer staples, advancing a mere 0.02%.
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 15.50 to 1,593.03, while the Nasdaq Canada slid 10.05 points to 712.92.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, equities slumped near midday Tuesday, led by the Nasdaq composite, as Alcoa's weaker-than-expected profit report and Chevron's profit warning rattled investors at the start of the quarterly reporting period.
The Dow Jones Industrials lost 42.93 points by noon to 10,624. The S&P 500 subtracted 9.36 points to 1,137.62, and the Nasdaq took off 24.13 points to 2,288.28.
Stocks churned Monday as investors eyed a weak dollar, higher commodity prices and falling tech shares ahead of Alcoa
After the close, the Dow component reported a profit of one cent per share, versus a loss of 28 cents U.S. per share a year ago. Analysts expected the company to have earned six cents U.S. a share, according to earnings tracker Thomson Reuters. Revenue fell less than expected.
Alcoa shares slumped 8% Monday. Other big Dow losers included Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, United Technologies, Caterpillar and Chevron.
The oil behemoth warned late Monday that sharply lower fourth-quarter refining earnings would drag down its fourth-quarter results. Margins have been pressured because the rising price of oil is not in sync with the weaker demand globally, due to the economic slowdown.
KB Home reported a quarterly profit for the first time in two years, thanks to a tax benefit. However, the homebuilder's revenue dropped from a year ago.
Intel and JPMorgan Chase are the biggest companies due to report results this week.
S&P 500 earnings are expected to have risen around 213% from a year ago, according to earnings tracker Thomson Reuters. However, that figure reflects the easy comparisons versus a year ago, the worst quarter in Thomson's history.
The massive turnaround in the financial sector is playing a big role in the earnings recovery, with the sector expected to post a big profit after posting a loss a year ago.
The November trade deficit, released in the morning, widened to $36.4 billion from a revised $33.2 billion U.S. in October. The deficit was expected to widen to $34.5 billion U.S., according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
The Federal Reserve made record profits in 2009, returning about $45 billion to the U.S. Treasury.
Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.73% from Monday's 3.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil dropped $1.02 to $81.51 U.S.
Gold prices slid three dollars to $1,149 U.S.
