TORONTO - The Toronto stock market was slightly lower Friday morning, led by weakness in the mining sector as investors stepped back following a solid series of gains.
The main S&P/TSX composite index moved down 47 points to 11,481.2 after a 27-point loss Thursday broke a five-day advance that netted more than 500 points as investors grow more confident about an economic recovery.
A pickup in U.S. dollar strength sent the Canadian dollar down 0.15 of a cent to 93.59 cents US
In economic news, Statistics Canada says wholesale sales increased in July by 2.8 per cent for the second consecutive month, mainly as a result of higher sales in the auto sector.
The data show stronger sales in five of the seven wholesale trade sectors, although there were drops in the food, beverage and tobacco products and farm products sectors.
However, overall sales are still 13.5 per cent below the level of July 2008.
The gold sector lost early momentum to lead decliners, down two per cent as the December bullion contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $4.20 to US$1,009.30 an ounce. Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) faded $1 to $43.97.
The base metals sector also turned negative, down 1.45 per cent with December copper off six cents to US$2.83 a pound. Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) declined 45 cents to $28.94.
Losses on the TSX energy sector picked up as the October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 60 cents to US$71.87 a barrel. On the TSX, Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ) gave back C$1.14 to $72.75.
Crude is still up more than US$3 on the week, on hopes that the United States, the biggest oil consumer, is on the road to recovery.
Still, the recession has sapped American fuel consumption, and U.S. oil stockpiles are 14 per cent larger than last year.
The financial sector was the biggest advancer, up 0.39 per cent with Manulife Financial (TSX:MFC) ahead 42 cents to $22.57.
The TSX Venture Exchange was up 2.85 points to 1,275.59.
New York indexes were mixed following a series of sharp gains, as the Dow Jones industrials gained 28.8 points to 9,812.7.
The Nasdaq composite index was down 3.49 points to 2,123.6 while the S&P 500 index inched up 0.3 point to 1,065.8.
Investors took in earnings from smartphone maker Palm Inc. which showed wider first-quarter loss - its ninth in a row.
Adjusted results, however, handily beat Wall Street's forecast as the company shipped more of its new Pre devices than had been expected. But investors were disappointed with its second-quarter sales forecast and news of a planned stock offering and its shares slipped 54 cents to US$13.90.
Economic confidence has risen this week after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the recession is for intents and purposes over, industrial production rose sharply in August and housing starts are heading higher.
A wild card in Friday's trading is the fact that it is a "quadruple witching day."
This happens four times a year on the third Friday of the last month of the quarter when contracts on stock futures, stock index futures, stock options and stock index options all expire the same day, and can make for a volatile session.
In other corporate news, Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.A) announced its rail division has received an order for 30 tram trains, which will be manufactured in Germany and Austria. The order is valued at euro129 million (US$190 million) not counting an option for 45 additional vehicles and its shares declined eight cents to $4.71.
European markets traded in a narrow range as Germany's DAX and Paris CAC were flat while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.16 per cent.
Asian markets closed mostly lower, as Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average fell 0.7 per cent while
Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.7 per cent and China's Shanghai index lost 3.2 per cent.
