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TSX plunges(Baystreet Stock Market Update (Canada) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Health-care biggest loser The Toronto stock market was sharply lower Thursday afternoon as weak trade data from China raised fresh questions about the pace of growth in the world's second-largest economy. The S&P/TSX composite index ended Thursday by dropping 127.58 points to 14,308 The Canadian dollar surrendered 0.37 cents at 91.52 cents U.S. Negative investor sentiment on U.S. markets spread to the TSX where the health care sector dropped 4.5 per cent with Valeant Pharmaceuticals down $5.84, or 4.2%, to $134.81. Canadian tech stocks also helped push the TSX lower with CGI Group down 94 cents, or 2.6%, to $35.00. Financial stocks were also a major weight, amid reduced earnings expectations for the big U.S. banks. Analysts at Thomson Reuters expect financial sector earnings to decline by 2.8% and revenue to fall by 1%. TD Bank was down 57 cents to $51.23, while RBC was off 14 cents to $73/11 The energy sector was flat while the sluggish Chinese data helped push the April crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange down. Imperial Oil was down 24 cents to $51.65. Copper was up a cent to $3.05 U.S. a pound. The metal has already fallen 11% this year amid lower expectations for Chinese economic growth. The base metals sector gave up early gains to move down. Teck Resources lost 43 cents to $24.86. The gold sector dropped. Goldcorp Inc. is upping its offer for Montreal-based Osisko Mining Corp., which has been opposing the takeover proposal. Goldcorp says Osisko shareholders would receive $2.92 cash, up from $2.26, and 0.17 of a Goldcorp common share, up from 0.146 of a share, in the new proposal. Goldcorp says its revised offer values Osisko at $3.6 billion or $7.65 per Osisko share. Goldcorp declined 99 cents to $26.85 while Osisko climbed four cents to $7.59. In earnings news, Shaw Communications Inc. posted quarterly net income of $222 million or 46 cents a share, compared with net income of $182 million and EPS of 38 cents in the same quarter of 2013. Revenues were $1.27 billion, up 2% from $1.25 billion last year and its shares edged up 21 cents to $26.65 Some sad news came over the wires Thursday, announcing the sudden passing of former federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. The Ontario MP had served in the finance portfolio for eight years until his retirement last month. Flaherty, 64, had been suffering from a skin disease that had him on steroids, but was not believed life-threatening at the time he stepped down. In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported its new housing index rose 0.2% in February, following a 0.3% increase in January. The Bank of Canada is unlikely to raise interest rates until the third quarter of 2015, possibly later than the U.S. Fed, and will stick to a staunchly neutral stance in its policy statement next week, according to a Reuters poll of analysts. Internationally, Chinese trade data raised worries that the world's second-biggest economy will have trouble meeting its official target of 7.5% growth this year. It also pushed some analysts to lower already reduced expectations for growth. ON BAYSTREET The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 9.81 points to 993.56 All 14 Toronto subgroups were down on the day, led by health-care, taking a beating of 3.4%, information technology, down 2.4%, and industrial stocks, shedding 1.4%. ON WALLSTREET Red was the colour of the day on trading screens Thursday as investors on Wall Street once again dumped technology and biotechnology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 266.96 points, or 1.6%, to 16,170.22. The S&P 500 dumped 39.10 points, or 2.1%, to 1,833.08, while the NASDAQ plummeted 129.79 points, or 3.1%, to 4,054.11 There was hope that a two-day rally would extend into Thursday, but the bulls simply haven't shown up today. Instead, fears of a larger selloff have returned as investors wonder how much longer the five-year market upswing can really go. Marquee NASDAQ names like Google, Amazon.com, Yahoo, and Tesla were all down between 3% and 4%. Facebook was off nearly 5% after gaining 7% Wednesday. Part of this is likely due to a correction in momentum stocks, but concerns about the Heartbleed bug were also probably playing a role. The biotech sector was also suffering. Biogen Idec, Celgene, and Vertex all fell between 4% and 5%. Gilead Sciences is plunging more than 6% If there was any good news, it was that "old tech" standby IBM. It is up for the day and up year to date, unlike many of the other tech names. In corporate news, eBay and activist investor Carl Icahn have buried that hatchet, but the stock is trading lower. The two sides reached a deal to end a contentious proxy battle. Icahn will withdraw his proposal to spinoff eBay's PayPal unit and relent on his request for two board seats. For its part, eBay has agreed to appoint David Dorman as an independent director. Dorman is currently chairman of CVS Caremark. None of this has helped eBay's stock, which is down over 2.5%. Mere months after the Target credit and debit card data breach, computer security firms are struggling. Imperva is plunging over 40% today. The data security company warned about weaker than expected first quarter numbers. Moreover, other cyber-security stocks like FireEye, Palo Alto Networks, Qualys and Fortinet all slid. Retailers are in the midst of reporting their earnings. Rite Aid shares are surging after the drugstore chain reported better than expected fourth quarter results. It was also a pretty picture for home decor retailer Pier 1. Its shares were over 2% higher after announcing earnings that surprised on the high end of Wall Street expectations. In contrast, shares in retailer Bed Bath & Beyond are tumbling after the company warned that it expects first quarter earnings to miss expectations. The biggest IPO to hit Wall Street so far this year started trading this morning, but Ally Financial traded well below its $25 U.S. offering price. The old GM finance arm that was bailed out by the government doesn't seem to be exciting investors much. Economic news this morning seemed to lift the mood on Wall Street, but that faded quickly. Jobless claims fell to a seven-year low last week, but economists note that there's often a lot of variation this time of year that might not accurately reflect the true health of the jobs market. Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained ground Thursday, lowering yields to 2.63% from Wednesday's 2.68%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. Oil prices gave back 29 cents to $103.31 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices roared up $73.70 to $1,321.10 U.S. an ounce. © 1998 - 2014 Baystreet.ca Media Corp. All rights reserved. |