The Toronto stock market was lower Tuesday with traders disinclined to add to the sharp gains of the previous session amid mainly lower commodity prices and data showing a slip in American consumer confidence.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 45.71 points to 12,529.08 while the TSX Venture Exchange was down 2.53 points to 1,578.86.
The Canadian dollar was down 0.18 of a cent to 100.71 cents (U.S.) following a jump of about 3/4 of a cent on Monday.
U.S. markets were weak as the U.S. Conference Board reported that its index on consumer confidence edged down to 70.2 in March — from an upwardly revised 71.6 in February — which was in line with expectations.
"Consumers' perceptions of the present situation continued to improve, but future expectations were weaker with rising gasoline prices potentially weighing on confidence," said CIBC World Markets senior economist Andrew Grantham.
The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 1.36 points to 13,240.27.
The Nasdaq composite index was up 5.17 points to 3,127.74, and the S&P 500 index climbed 0.2 of a point to 1,416.71.
Other data which showed that U.S. home prices fell in January for a fifth straight month in most major U.S. cities, as modest sales increases have yet to boost prices.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index shows prices dropped 0.8 per cent in January from December in 16 of 19 cities tracked.
The tepid performance on markets comes after indexes in Toronto and New York netted strong triple-digit gains and the greenback weakened Monday after U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said that the U.S. job market was still weak despite three months of job gains in excess of 200,000. Bernanke's comments were a strong indication that the central bank is prepared to keep its low-interest rate policies in place for some time to come despite the recent signs of economic growth.
Traders also interpreted his remarks to suggest that the Fed could launch another round of printing more money and buying bonds, known as quantitative easing.
But analysts also suggested that the performance, coming on top of losses last week, indicates a market running out of steam after a respectable runup so far this year, with the TSX up about five per cent and the Dow ahead eight per cent.
"It shows you the emotional or psychological makeup right now," said John Stephenson, portfolio manager at First Asset Funds Inc.
"Markets sense a turn in the U.S., are probably getting a little ahead of themselves and there's really not a lot of data that's wonderful or dramatic or very much of it. I honestly think you're going to have a turn into sell and go away earlier than May — maybe it's now, maybe it's mid-April, but I sense that the market is very tired."
The gold sector was the biggest decliner, down 1.12 per cent as bullion prices added to Monday's $23 rise, up 80 cents to $1,686.40 (U.S.) an ounce. Iamgold (TSX:IMG) slipped 11 cents to $13.23.
Shares in Centerra Gold (TSX:CG) tumbled $2.98 or 18.47 per cent to $13.15 after cutting its production guidance at its Kumtor mine in the Kyrgyz Republic due to ice movement in the mine's pit that will delay access to a section of high grade ore.
The May crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange also added to Monday's modest gain, down 27 cents to $106.76 (U.S.) a barrel. But the energy sector dipped 0.79 per cent with Cenovus Energy (TSX:CVE) down 40 cents to $36.18.
The base metals sector fell 0.7 per cent with copper prices down two cents at $3.87 (U.S.) a pound after jumping eight cents Monday. First Quantum Minerals (TSX:FM) dipped 38 cents to $18.82.
Lower railway stocks helped take the industrials group down 0.5 per cent with Canadian Pacific Railway (TSX:CP) down 34 cents to $78.57 after earlier hitting a fresh high of $79.29.
The railway is holding an investor day in Toronto. Executives hope to convince investors that they shouldn't be replaced. CP's largest shareholder, New York hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, has expressed displeasure with the railway's performance in recent years. It is pushing to elect six proposed directors who are in favour of ousting current chief executive Fred Green and replacing him with Hunter Harrison, the former head of rival railroad Canadian National (TSX:CNR). CN shares lost 61 cents to $79.79.
In other corporate news, pipeline builder Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB) is investing $3.8-billion in a new round of construction to bring oil sands crude to the U.S. Gulf coast and help ease a bottleneck that has led to a glut of supply in the Midwest. It will expand its Flanagan South Pipeline from Flanagan, Ill. to Cushing, Okla. to a 36-inch diameter line with a capacity of 585,000 barrels per day. Enbridge also said it will twin a jointly owned Seaway Pipeline from Cushing to the U.S. Gulf Coast at Houston. Enbridge shares gained 18 cents to $38.41.
British Columbia miner Copper Mountain Mining Corp. (TSX:CUM) booked $44.7-million of revenue in its fourth quarter, bringing the total for the year to $66.5 million. It's the first year that Copper Mountain has booked revenue from operations.
The Vancouver-based company had $5.6-million of net earnings attributable to shareholders, or six cents per share, for the quarter ended Dec 31. For the full year, the net loss was $12.7-million or 13 cents per share and its shares dropped 19 cents to $4.54.
European bourses were mixed with London's FTSE 100 index down 0.57 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX gained 0.12 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 slipped 0.86 per cent.