Canadian stocks fell, cutting a weekly gain, as gold shares fell for the 10th time in 11 days after the slower than expected U.S. inflation and the European finance ministers met to discuss a Greek rescue operation. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest gold producer, fell 2.4 percent as the metal declined. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Canada’s second largest energy company by market value, rose 0.8 percent as crude oil and natural gas forward. Enbridge Inc, Canada’s largest pipeline company, fell 4.1 percent after reporting earnings that missed estimates.
The S & P / TSX Composite Index 27.29 points, or 0.2 percent, falling to 12,458.30, reducing the weekly increase of 0.6 percent. The meter erased gains after the Wall Street Journal said the International Monetary Fund will contribute less to a Greek bailout than previous rescues.
“All eyes are on Greece,” Brian Huen, a managing partner at Red Sky Capital Management Ltd. in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. The company oversees about C $ 55 million (55 million dollars). “It is natural to people nervous. Greece is not the only problem in the EU. You Portugal, you have Spain and potential problems. If you can not retrieve a piece of the puzzle that is so small, how do you to find out that other problems? ”
The index has eight advanced over the past nine weeks as improving U.S. employment, manufacturing and housing data overshadowed the European debt crisis. Seventy-four percent of Canadian exports to the U.S. last year, according to Statistics Canada.
Smaller contribution
The IMF will probably 10 percent of 130 billion euros (171 billion) aid package to Greece to contribute, the Wall Street Journal said today, citing people familiar with the matter. The organization paid 27 percent of Greece 110 billion bailout in 2010, the newspaper said.
Stocks rose around the world earlier after the Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos expressed optimism today that an agreement on a bailout Greece can be reached on 20 February.
The S & P / TSX Gold Index dropped 1.6 percent, extending its loss since 02 February to 6.3 percent. U.S. consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in January, the Labor Department said today. Economists predict a 0.3 percent rise in inflation gauge, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.
Barrick fell 2.4 percent to C $ 46.83. Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd., which operates in Canada, Mexico and Finland, fell 3.6 percent to C $ 35.27. Nova Gold Resources Inc., which develops projects in Alaska and British Columbia, lost 3.7 percent to C $ 8.41.
Metals, Coal
Teck Resources Ltd., the largest Canadian base-metals and coal producer, fell 2.9 percent to C $ 38.30 as copper retreated for a sixth day on the Comex in New York, the longest recession since August.
Natural-gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange extended their two-day rise to 11 percent a day after the U.S. reported a larger decrease in stocks than most analysts in a Bloomberg survey had predicted. Crude oil climbed to a nine-month high.
Canadian Natural rose 0.8 percent to C $ 37.38. Talisman Energy Inc., an oil and gas producer with operations in North America, North Sea and Indonesia, got 1.6 percent to C $ 13.60.
Petro Bakken Energy Ltd., a western Canadian oil and gas producer, jumped 5.3 percent to C $ 15.42 after agreeing to a number of its Saskatchewan assets to sell to Crescent Point Energy Corp. for C $ 427 million. Petro Bank Energy & Resources Ltd., the largest shareholder of Petro Bakken’s, rose 5.3 percent to C $ 15.38. Crescent Point fell 1.9 percent to C $ 45.59.
Strike in Yemen
Calvalley Petroleum Inc., which operates in Yemen, rose 19 percent to C $ 1.60 after plunging 19 percent on Feb. 14. Employees have suspended a strike at the Masila oil, that oil transport was disrupted in the country, according to an official who refused to identify because he is not competent to speak on the issue.
Enbridge, Keyera Corp. and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. retreated after reporting earnings that analysts drawn in Bloomberg surveys.
Enbridge lost 4.1 percent, the most since February 2009, to C $ 37.58 after reporting fourth-quarter profit that pulled the average analyst estimate by 6.1 percent, excluding certain items. The company also said that Noverco Inc. intends to sell a third of its stake in Enbridge. Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec and jointly owned by Enbridge Noverco.
Gas
Keyera, a natural gas marketing company, slumped 5.6 percent, the most since March 2009, to C $ 44.75 after reporting a loss in the fourth quarter. All five analysts in a Bloomberg survey had predicted a profit.
Fairfax Financial, an insurance holding company, slipped 4.3 percent to C $ 400 after saying it lost $ 771.5 million in the fourth quarter. The loss was in the quarter since at least 2000.
Propane distributor Superior Plus Corp. rose 8.6 percent to C $ 6.43 after reporting its fourth quarter financial results. Unusually warm weather in North America less cash flow less than analysts predicted, Damir Gunja, an analyst at Toronto-Dominion Bank, said in a note to clients.
source:businessweek
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