A worker holds raw oil sand near Fort McMurray.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
The Toronto stock market was lower Thursday amid a mixed batch of earnings news and with crude prices at four-year lows ahead of a weekly report on U.S. oil inventories coming out later in the morning.
The S&P/TSX composite index dipped 16.85 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 14,839.35. The Canadian dollar declined 0.04 of a cent to 88.33 cents (U.S.).
U.S. indexes were positive with the Dow Jones industrials up 48.87 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 17,661.07, the Nasdaq was ahead 24.93 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 4,700.06 and the S&P 500 index climbed 4.61 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 2,042.86.
The energy sector was the leading TSX decliner while the December crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped 92 cents to $76.26 (U.S.) a barrel ahead of the mid-morning release of inventories from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Oil has been trading at or near multi-year lows amid slow economic growth in many regions and increased U.S. supplies.
After the close, Iamgold Corp. posted a quarterly net loss of $72.5-million or 19 cents per share, compared with net income of $25.3-million or seven cents a share in the same year-earlier period. Revenue rose to $341.5-million from $293.5-million as gold sales rose to 233,000 ounces from 195,000, but the average realized price per ounce fell to $1,277 from $1,334. Its shares slipped two cents to $2.15.
Gold prices have been under extreme pressure lately, heading steadily towards the $1,100 mark, amid an end to the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest quantitative easing program, a higher U.S. dollar and low inflation.
On Wednesday, December bullion in New York rose $3 to $1,162.10 an ounce.
Gold stocks have also suffered and the TSX gold sector has plunged 13 per cent in the last month but on Thursday, the group edged one per cent higher.
The tech sector was also positive as IT services company CGI Group Inc. said that it had $213.7-million (Canadian) or 67 cents of net income in its fourth quarter. Ex-items, CGI earned $234-million or 73 cents per share – in line with estimates. Revenue was $2.48-billion – up about $25-million from a year earlier but short of the analyst estimate of $2.57-billion. Still, its shares gained 20 cents to $39.66.
The financials sector was also supportive. Manulife Financial reported core earnings of $755-million or 39 cents in the third quarter, up 10.1 per cent from a year earlier and a penny short of estimates. Manulife's net income was $1.1-billion or 57 cents per share, much higher than the 26 cents that analysts had expected. Manulife has said in the past that its core earnings are a better measure of its profitability because of the nature of its business. Its shares added four cents to $21.71.
The base metals component gained 0.45 per cent while December copper was unchanged at $3.02 (U.S.) a pound.
In other earnings news, shares in Cineplex Inc. fell $1.44 to $41.32 (Canadian) as the theatre chain reported quarterly profit of $15.9-million or 25 cents per share, down 39 per cent from a year ago. Analysts had estimated 39 cents per share. Cineplex's adjusted earnings fell 17 per cent to $48-million from $57.9-million a year earlier. The company had stable revenue of $299-million, up 0.2 per cent. Its attendance was down about 5.1 per cent from a year earlier.