Rising gold and energy stocks helped give the Toronto stock market a minor lift Friday while investors looked to the release of a disappointing read on U.S. home sales last month.The S&P/TSX composite index climbed 32.15 points to 14,242.52.
The Canadian dollar continued to pile up losses for a third day, down 0.31 of a cent to 89.8 cents (U.S.) as Statistics Canada said that December retail sales tumbled 1.8 per cent from November. Economists had expected a drop of just 0.4 per cent.
But the loonie was well off the worst levels of the morning after the agency also reported that the Canadian consumer price index was up 1.5 per cent in January compared to a year earlier. That was slightly higher than the 1.3 per cent rise economists expected.
U.S. indexes were higher as the National Association of Realtors said that existing house sales dropped 5.1 per cent during January following a 0.8 per cent rise in December. It was the worst pace in 18 months as cold weather, limited supplies of homes on the market and higher buying costs held back purchases. The drop took the annualized rate of sales down to 4.62 million.
The Dow Jones industrials gained 34.35 points to 16,167.58, the Nasdaq was up 9.64 points to 4,277.19 while the S&P 500 index climbed 3.66 points to 1,843.44.
The gold sector was up 0.4 per cent while April gold gained $6.60 to US$1,323.50 an ounce.
Eldorado Gold Corp. shares were unchanged at $8.12 as the miner posted a $687.6-million quarterly net loss amid lower values for its assets and reduced gold prices and output. Revenue was $231.7-million, down from $350-million in the fourth quarter of 2012.
The energy sector rose 0.32 per cent while the April crude contract in New York declined 15 cents to $102.60 a barrel.
March copper was up 0.24 per cent at $3.29 a pound and the base metals sector was up a slight 0.1 per cent.
Thompson Creek Metals Co. Inc. posted an adjusted net loss of US$28.5-million or 17 cents per share, missing forecasts for a loss of three cents a share. Revenue was also below expectations, at US$117.1-million compared with the general estimate of $123.77-million. Its shares rose 33 cents or 11.2 per cent to $3.28 as it also said that it will suspend operations at its molybdenum mine in Idaho by the end of this year, due to persistent low prices.
In other earnings news Friday, conglomerate Onex Corp. posted a $223-million net loss in the fourth quarter, bringing the total loss for 2013 to $813-million. About $750-million of the annual loss was attributed to fair-value adjustments in favour of its partners. In addition, its aerostructures division had a loss related to long-term contracts. Its shares were up a penny to $59.
In the U.S., Hewlett-Packard reported first-quarter earnings and revenue late Thursday that topped analyst forecasts. The results were boosted by the surprising strength of personal computer sales to businesses and its shares were down 41 cents to $29.78.