Mar. 12, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
The Toronto stock market dipped into negative territory around noon, despite support from the base metals sector and good news from market heavyweight Potash Corp.
The S&P/TSX composite index faded 5.48 points by lunch time to 11,974.22, having crashed through the 12,000-point barrier early in the day.
The base metals sector maintained a gain as May copper was unchanged at $3.38 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources climbed 46 cents to $41.49.
Potash Corp.'s shares ran up $6.67 to $126.40 as it raised its first-quarter earnings guidance due to a sharp rebound in potash demand.
The Saskatchewan-based company said it now expects to earn between $1.30 and $1.50 per share for first three months of the year, up from earlier guidance of 70 cents to $1 per share. The guidance compared with a profit of $1.02 per share in the first three months of 2009.
The dollar backed off from previous highs, having earlier surged as high as 98.47 cents U.S. -- its highest level since July 2008 -- following the release of jobs data for February that came in better than expected.
Statistics Canada said 21,000 jobs were created last month, better than the 15,000 that had been expected by many economists, while the unemployment rate fell by one percentage point to 8.2% from 8.3%.
The TSX failed to benefit much from the Alberta government's announcement that it is cutting the royalties it charges the oil and gas industries.
The maximum royalty rate for both natural gas and oil had been 50%. But the Alberta government said Thursday the cap will be lowered to 40% for oil and 36% for gas.
Many producers responded to new, higher royalties a year ago by moving their investment out of the province, the centre of Canada's oil and gas industry.
Oil prices had earlier risen after the International Energy Agency said that world oil demand will rise this year due to surging economic activity in Asian countries, especially China.
The IEA, which advises oil-consuming countries, predicts in its monthly report that oil demand will average 86.6 million barrels a day this year. That works out to 1.6 million barrels a day more than in 2009.
The tech sector declined as Research In Motion Ltd. shed $1.47 to $76.25.
Fertilizer producer Agrium Inc. gained after it announced that its hostile takeover bid for U.S. company CF Industries Holdings Inc. will be allowed to expire. Agrium shares climbed $4.58 to $72.91.
Agrium had offered $45 U.S. in cash plus one of its shares for each CF share in a bid that valued Illinois-based company at nearly $5.5 billion U.S.. However the offer was contingent on CF dropping its own takeover bid for Iowa-based fertilizer producer Terra Industries Inc., which is now in favour of the CF deal.
In other corporate news, First Uranium Corp. shot up 17 cents to $1.66 after it said it will issue between $125 million and $150 million in secured, convertible debt to several parties including current shareholder groups. The Toronto-based company warned last month that its financial condition had been "severely compromised" by problems getting government environmental approval for a future storage facility in South Africa.
Goldcorp Inc. earned a profit of $66.7 million U.S. in its latest quarter as revenue grew nearly 30 per cent from a year ago .The gold miner, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, said Thursday it earned $66.7 million U.S. or nine cents U.S. per share for the quarter ended Dec. 31 compared with a profit of $958.1 million U.S. or $1.31 U.S. per share a year ago. Its shares declined 27 cents U.S. to $40.60 U.S.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.64 cents at 98.26 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, eight had drifted lower by midday, with health-care the worst off at 1.4%. Gold dropped 1.3% of its strength, while telecoms were down 0.9%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by materials, up 0.7%, metals and mining stocks, gaining 0.6% and consumer discretionary issues, inching up 0.2%.
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 4.93 points to 1,565.87, while the Nasdaq Canada index ducked 4.36 points to 806.22.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks gave up an early advance Friday as investors weighed an unexpected drop in a key consumer confidence index against a surprisingly strong retail sales report.
The Dow Jones industrial average was still ahead 5.07 points by noon to 10,633.08. The S&P 500 index slipped 0.42 points to 1,149.82, and the Nasdaq composite moved backward 0.94 points to 2,367.52.
Stocks have managed narrow gains this week. As of Thursday's close, the Dow has risen in eight of the last 10 sessions, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have risen in nine of the last 10 sessions.
On Thursday, stocks seesawed through most of the session but closed with slim gains.
However, with the S&P 500 holding near an 18-month high, investors may be reluctant to push the market higher.
On the economic ledger, the Commerce Department's monthly report on retail sales showed a 0.3% increase. That surprised economists who expected sales to fall 0.2% in February, according to Briefing.com, following a 0.5% dip in January.
The Reuters/University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment fell to 72.5 in early March from 73.6 in the previous month. Economists had expected the index to climb to 74.
A Census Bureau report showed that January business inventories were unchanged from the month before, versus a forecasted rise of 0.1%.
A report by a U.S. bankruptcy court-appointed examiner blamed the collapse of Lehman on the bank's executives and its auditor.
The conduct of Lehman executives "ranged from serious but non-culpable errors of business judgment to actionable balance sheet manipulation," examiner Anton Valukas said in the report.
Treasury prices jumped, droppng the yield on the 10-year note to 3.70% from 3.71% late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil slid 49 cents to $81.63 U.S.
Gold prices fell a dollar to $1,107 U.S.
