Greece's Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis addresses the media after a meeting of Eurogroup finance ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Feb. 16, 2015. Greece’s radical left government and its European creditors headed into new talks Monday on the debt-heavy country’s stuttering bailout program, but expectations are low despite a fast-approaching deadline for some kind of deal. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)The Associated Press
The Toronto stock market was slightly higher Tuesday amid well-received earnings reports and concern that a deal may not be reached in time to stop Greece from having to leave the euro zone.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved up 41.05 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 15,305.86.
The Canadian dollar rose 0.21 of a cent to 80.46 cents (U.S.).
New York's Dow Jones industrials declined 44.08 points to 17,975.27, the Nasdaq lost 7.38 points to 4,886.46 and the S&P 500 index moved down four points to 2,092.99.
Worries about a possible Greek exit from the euro zone grew after talks between the country's finance minister and his 18 euro zone counterparts broke down Monday.
Greece was told it has to ask for an extension to its bailout program before further negotiations on the country's future financing can take place. But Greece's new Syriza government refused, saying it has a strong mandate to reject the austerity measures that have kept the country from financial collapse.
Without some sort of financing arrangements in place when the current bailout ends after Feb. 28, Greece could face difficulties meeting its obligations, meaning bankruptcy and a potential exit from the euro would loom once again.
However, the mood is much different from a few years ago when the Greek debt crisis first roiled markets as concerns about other vulnerable euro zone countries are well in check this time.
"Make no mistake, one of the big question marks is, if indeed no compromise is reached and Greece was to exit or be kicked out of the euro zone, what does that look like?," said Craig Fehr, Canadian markets specialist at Edward Jones in St. Louis.
"But if we just use the debt markets as a reflection, it's clear that the panic and the crisis hasn't yet extended itself to some of those other peripheral countries (such as Spain and Portugal) that we saw in 2011."
Gold was also a good barometer of market concern over Greece: the April bullion contract dropped $20.60 to $1,208.10 (U.S.), taking the gold sector down 2.6 per cent.
The energy sector fell 1.15 per cent as oil prices moved lower following two days of sharp advances. The March crude contract in New York was down $1.67 to $51.11 a barrel.
March copper was four cents lower to $2.56 a pound but the base metals component erased early losses to move up 0.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, Restaurant Brands International Inc. posted a quarterly loss as the company behind Burger King completed its acquisition of Tim Hortons. The company lost $514.2-million or $2.52 per diluted share, compared with a profit of $66.8-million or 19 cents per diluted share a year earlier. But revenue totalled $416.3-million, up from $265.2-million and its shares gained $3.83 or 7.95 per cent to $52.08.
Home renovation retailer Rona Inc. beat expectations as its adjusted profits rose to $17.3-million in the fourth quarter from $4.6-million a year ago, helped by a six per cent growth in same-store retail sales and its shares were ahead $1.12 or 8.65 per cent to $14.04.