Mar. 18, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Bay Street stocks were down in mid-morning deals Thursday as commodities prices were off from their recent highs after worries over the Greece debt situation resurfaced.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell back 92.29 points by noon time, to 12,008.37.
Profit taking at higher levels after the main index settled the previous session at its calendar year high, also weighed on the market.
Thursday, Greece Prime Minister said that his country may have to approach IMF for aid, in case if it fails to get support from the European Union.
Among energy stocks, Celtic Exploration was down 1.54%.
Oil and natural gas explorer Petrobank Energy eased 0.45%.
Yesterday, the company reported more than twofold rise in its fourth-quarter net income at $57.1 million compared with $28.08 million in the year-ago quarter.
Another oil and natural gas explorer Cequence Energy shed 1.44% even after reporting a narrower loss of $0.41 per share for the full year 2009, compared to $0.84 per share in the prior year.
Meanwhile, exploration services provider Open Range Energy edged up 0.5% despite reporting a lower Funds From Operations of $0.14 per share for the fourth quarter, compared to $0.23 per share in the prior year quarter.
The price of bullion was trading almost flat, sustaining around 2% gains made so far this week. Among gold stocks, Lihir Gold rose 2.70%.
Mineral explorer European Goldfields edged up 0.8% despite reporting a fourth-quarter net loss of $0.04 per share, compared to a profit of $0.04 per share last year.
Silver producer Great Panther Silver rose 2.22% after it swung to profit, reporting fourth-quarter net income of $0.01 per share, compared to a loss of $0.02 per share during the corresponding quarter last year.
Gold and silver explorer Starcore International Mines slipped 6.25%. The company posted a second-quarter net income of $77,000 compared with a net loss of $22,000 in the previous-year period.
Citigroup trimmed its rating on the global financial sector to "Neutral' from 'Overweight'.
In other news, a U.S. federal judge dismissed a shareholder lawsuit against CIBC claiming that the bank misled investors about its exposure to the U.S. sub prime mortgage market. CIBC eased 0.5%.
Canadian Western Bank lost 0.8% and RBC was down 0.15%.
Among base metals stocks, Quadra Mining declined 2.5%.
Meanwhile, First Quantum Minerals moved up 0.54% to $89.14. Raymond James hiked its price target on the stock to $165 from $135.
Canadian Helicopters Income Fund rose 4.4% after it turned to profit, reporting fourth-quarter net earnings of $0.20 per unit, compared to a loss of $0.03 per unit a year ago.
Food products company Premium Brands Holdings surrendered 3.1% after reporting fourth-quarter earnings of $0.19 per share, up from $0.18 in the prior-year quarter. However, earnings missed consensus estimates for a profit of $0.32 per share.
Water treatment company BioteQ Environmental Technologies shed 3.1% after reporting a net loss of $0.08 per share for fiscal 2009, compared to a loss of $0.09 per share in the prior year.
In economic news, Statistics Canada said foreign investments in Canadian securities continued to grow, hitting $11.8 billion in January, with more growth seen in debt instruments. Meanwhile, Canadians withdrew $5.8 billion from their holdings of foreign securities in the same period.
The Canadian dollar was down 0.46 cents to 98.61 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but two of the 14 TSX subgroups were negative by noon. Materials faded 1.4%, while metals and mining stocks sank 1.3% and global base metals went backward 0.9%.
The two gainers were real-estate stocks, ahead 0.4% and information technology, up a mere 0.2%.
The TSX Venture Exchange retreated 5.65 points to 1,572.13, while the Nasdaq Canada index subtracted 4.62 points to 800.24.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks seesawed midday Thursday as investors welcomed reports that suggest pricing pressure remains mild and that jobless claims fell last week. But investors remained cautious after last week's runup.
The Dow Jones industrial average eased 3.55 points, to 10,730.12. The S&P 500 index stepped back 5.02 points to 1,161.19, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 5.48 points to 2,383.61.
Stocks have been moving higher lately, with the Dow, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all rising in four of the last five weeks and all currently on track to end higher for this week. The Dow and S&P have closed higher in 14 of the last 15 sessions and the Nasdaq has ended higher in 13 of the last 15 sessions.
After such a run, stock investors showed reluctance to make much of a move on Thursday.
Stocks rallied Wednesday, with the three major indexes all closing at new 2010 highs, after the U.S. and Japanese central banks chose to keep interest rates low. The gains were also driven by the Senate's passage of a $17.6-billion-U.S. jobs bill that President Obama is expected to sign into law Thursday.
Greece warned Thursday that it will have to tap the International Monetary Fund for help if the European Union can't agree next week to a plan of attack that will help it cut its borrowing rates. Going outside the 16-nation euro zone would be seen as a blow to the group and could further weaken the euro.
Greece has already implemented so-called austerity measures to cut back some of its debt, including lifting the retirement age and asking government workers to take pay cuts. However, these measures are being countered by rising borrowing rates, as lenders fear that Greece will ultimately default on its debt.
FedEx reported higher fiscal third-quarter sales and earnings that topped estimates, thanks to higher shipping volume. Shipping volume is a key measure for FedEx and the improvement is seen as a good sign for the economy.
The package delivery firm also lifted its forecast for full-year earnings to a range that meets analysts' estimates. But the company said fiscal fourth-quarter earnings will fall in a range that could miss analysts' estimates, leaving shares little changed.
Investors will take in reports on inflation, jobless claims and a regional manufacturing index.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) was unchanged in February after climbing 0.2% the month before, according to the Labor Deparment. A consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected the CPI to edge up 0.1%. The so-called core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased 0.1% after falling 0.1% in January. That was in line with expectations.
The government also reported that the number of Americans filing initial claims for jobless benefits fell last week to 457,000 from 462,000 the week before. Forecasts had called for a decline to 455,000.
The Conference Board released its index of leading economic indicators (LEI) shortly after the start of trading. LEI rose 0.1% in February, as expected, after rising 0.3% in the previous month.
The Philadelphia Fed index, also released after the start of trading, rose to 18.9 in March from 17.6 in February. Economists thought it would rise to 18.
Treasury prices dropped, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.67% from Tuesday's 3.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil stumbled 87 cents to $82.06 U.S.
Gold prices prospered a dollar to $1,125 U.S.
Stocks struggle after rally
