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Stocks sink slightly at close(Baystreet Stock Market Update (Canada) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Metro, CAE in focus The Toronto stock market was little changed Wednesday afternoon amid weak earnings reports and soft economic data. The S&P/TSX composite index was down but 11.50 points to close Wednesday at 15,262.73 The Canadian dollar added 0.07 cents to 91.61 cents U.S. Health-care issues led gainers, with Extendicare up 24 cents, or 2.9%, to $8.52. The base metals component led decliners, as the sub-par Chinese data pushed September copper down four cents to $3.11 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources dipped 20 cents to $25.09. The consumer staples sector was down as Quebec-based grocery chain Metro Inc. reported third-quarter net earnings of $144.5 million, or $1.63 per diluted share, a penny below forecasts. Sales were $3.62 billion, up 1.4 % year-over-year and Metro shares declined $1.79, or 2.5%, to $69.51. The industrials sector was weak, with CAE shares down 24 cents to $13.60 after the flight simulator maker reported quarterly earnings of $41.6 million or 16 cents a share, compared with a net profit of $45.6 million, or 18 cents per share, a year ago. Revenues were up at $526.2 million compared with $520.1 million year-over-year. CAE also upped its quarterly dividend by a penny to seven cents a share. On the economic front, July's version of Canada's market-moving jobs report contained an error and would be restated, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday, pointing to the latest in a series of mistakes that have damaged its reputation in recent years. ON BAYSTREET The TSX Venture Exchange regained 1.05 points to 999.76 Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups finished the day in the red, with global base metals sinking 0.7%, while metals and mining and the industrial group dropped 0.6%. The five gainers were led by health-care issues, up 1.6%, information technology, up 0.4%, and real-estate, 0.3% to the good. ON WALLSTREET The U.S. stock market closed with strong gains on Wednesday, led by advances in the health-care and technology sectors. The Dow Jones Industrials surged 91.26 points to 16,651.80 The S&P 500 added 12.97 points to 1,946.72, as Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. led gainers. The NASDAQ composite hiked 44.88 points to 4,434.13. Gains on the NASDAQ Composite were led by biotechnology companies. Amazon.com Inc. climbed as the company launched a new mobile payment service using a smartphone or tablet that is aimed at a market dominated by privately held Square. Shares of Macy's Inc. fell following a disappointing outlook and second-quarter sales that fell short of estimates. Shares of SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. plunged after the theme-park operator reported second-quarter results fell short and the company cut its full-year sales outlook. King Digital Entertainment sank after disappointing quarterly results from the “Candy Crush” triggered a wave of ratings downgrades from analysts. Networking-gear maker Cisco Systems will release results after the close of Wednesday's trading session. Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained, lowering yields to 2.41% from Tuesday's 2.44%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. Oil prices were unchanged at $97.37 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices picked up $1.50 at $1,312.70 U.S. an ounce. © 1998 - 2014 Baystreet.ca Media Corp. All rights reserved. |