By Satish Sarangarajan
TORONTO--Toronto stocks closed mixed Friday, as strength in gold
shares clashed with the selloff in Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM,
RIM.T).
RIM suffered its biggest percentage drop of 2012, plunging 22%
to C$10.86 despite upbeat third-quarter results, after Chief
Executive Thorsten Heins announced unspecified changes to the
company's service-revenue model. The maker of BlackBerry phones
relies on service revenues for more than a third of its revenue.
RIM's fall dragged with it the IT index, which tumbled 7.5%.
The S&P/TSX Composite fell 3.01 points to 12385.70, and
advances led declines 838 to 825, preliminary data showed. But the
S&P/TSX 60 rose 0.72 points to 712.30.
Canadian stocks drew little support from Canada's macroeconomic
readings, as core inflation rose at an annualized 1.2% in November,
well below the Bank of Canada's target of 2% and as GDP grew an
in-line 0.1% in October.
The TSX did much better than its counterparts in the U.S., where
Republican House Speaker John Boehner abandoned his "Plan B" budget
proposal to a vote after failing to secure enough support within
his party. Mr. Boehner also disbanded the House till after
Christmas, leaving even less time before the Jan. 1 deadline, to
settle the fiscal cliff.
"It's status quo for the markets. We are still hopeful that
something happens before next weekend," said Brian Huen, money
manager at Red Sky Capital Management in Toronto.
Trading volume rose to 540.5 million shares from 392.9 million
Thursday, as six of the 10 sectors on TSX closed up.
Raw materials shares rose 0.3%, as strengthening prices of gold,
a traditional safe haven, lifted Canadian gold producers. Yamana
Gold Inc. (AUY, YRI.T) was up 3.2% and Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX,
ABX.T) had gained 0.4%.
In energy, little known Calgary oil and gas producer Oando
Energy Resources Inc. (ONDOF, OER.T) surged 6.7% on its plans to
acquire ConocoPhillips' Nigerian assets for about $1.79
billion.
Write to Satish Sarangarajan at
satish.sarangarajan@dowjones.com
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