The Toronto stock market was negative Wednesday as worries about how rising energy costs will affect the global economy punished mining stocks while crude oil prices again headed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 23.7 points to 13,969.3 while the TSX Venture Exchange slipped 3.69 points to 2,382.05.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.29 of a cent to 103.23 cents U.S. after earlier in the day rising as much as 103.44 cents, its highest level since November 2007.
The Canadian currency has strongly benefited from oil prices which have surged since fighting between supporters and opponents of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi intensified in late February. The loonie is up almost two cents since Feb. 18 and oil prices have spiked about 17 per cent since then.
Oil prices advanced amid expectations OPEC countries will pump up production to offset any output lost in Libya.
The energy sector was flat as the April crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 50 cents to US$105.52 a barrel. Suncor Energy (TSX: SU) gained 25 cents to $43.92.
Oil prices had eased Tuesday after OPEC members said they were in informal talks over raising output to compensate for lost production in Libya. Under normal circumstances, Libya delivers almost two per cent of the worlds daily needs.
Investors are particularly worried that the violent rebellion against the Libyan leader may spread to other crude producers in the region, especially oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia.
Prices had been lower earlier in the morning after data showed a larger than expected rise in U.S. stockpiles. The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude inventories rose 3.8 million barrels last week while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had forecast an increase of 2.3 million barrels.
The base metals sector was down almost one per cent while the May copper contract was unchanged at US$4.34 a pound. Copper prices have fallen sharply on demand concerns, down about 3.5 per cent since Feb. 18.
Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX: TCK.B) was down $1.10 to $51.63. The company said Tuesday it has signed a deal to sell its interest in the Carrapateena Project in Australia to an affiliate of OZ Minerals Ltd. Teck expects to receive US$134 million in cash and have the right to up to an additional US$25 million depending on certain specified events related to production from the Carrapateena property.
The gold sector lost 0.72 per cent as the April gold contract on the Nymex gained $7.80 to US$1,435. Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX: ABX) faded 39 cents to $50.41.
New York markets were weak on the second anniversary of the start the bull market that pulled stocks up from the lows of the financial crisis that slammed stocks in the fall and winter of 2008.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 48.13 points to 12,166.25.
The Nasdaq composite index gained 24.27 points to 2,741.5 while the S&P 500 index declined 6.81 points to 1,315.01.
The main TSX index is up 85 per cent since Mar. 9, 2009 but is still about 1,000 points short of the all-time highs hit in the summer of 2008.
The Dow industrials is up 86 per cent from two years ago, the Nasdaq has surged 118 per cent while the S&P 500 index has jumped 95 per cent.
In corporate news, The Globe and Mail reported that four of the countrys six largest banks are preparing to raise red flags over the planned merger of the Toronto and London stock exchanges. The newspaper says the four banks plan to lay out their concerns in a public letter later this week.
A draft of the letter reportedly says that Torontos hopes to be a global financial services hub could suffer a severe and potentially irreversible setback. Unidentified sources said the effort is being co-ordinated by TD Bank (TSX: TD) with support from Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX: BNS), CIBC (TSX: CM) and National Bank (TSX: NA). Shares in Toronto market operator TMX Group (TSX: X) were down 45 cents to $39.43.
Laurentian Bank (TSX: LB) shares rose 19 cents to $54.49 as it said its net earnings increased by five per cent to $33.5 million in the first quarter as revenues rose to $189.5 million.
Aecon Group Inc. (TSX: ARE), one of Canadas largest publicly traded construction companies, reported fourth-quarter net income of $8.9 million or 16 cents per diluted share, down from $15.4 million or 26 cents in the same 2009 quarter. Revenue was $838 million, up from $600 million in the prior-year quarter and its shares rose 31 cents to $9.15.
Pengrowth Energy Corp. (TSX: PGF) saw its fourth-quarter profits slashed in half to $1.9 million due to higher operating costs and capital expenditures along with a five per cent decline in revenue. Revenue at the Calgary-based company, which recently converted from an income trust into a dividend-paying corporation, came in at $340.7 million compared with $359.3 million a year ago. Its shares were up three cents to $12.64.
Earlier in Asia, Japans Nikkei 225 stock average gained 0.6 per cent with sentiment lifted after the government announced that machinery orders rose 4.2 per cent in January from the previous month.
South Koreas Kospi rose 0.3 per cent and Hong Kongs Hang Seng added 0.4 per cent.
Mainland Chinese shares edged higher in thin trading, as investors awaited the release of February inflation data on Friday. The Shanghai Composite Index was virtually unchanged.
Londons FTSE 100 index was down 0.35 per cent, Frankfurts DAX was off 0.04 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 slipped 0.18 per cent.
