TSX STeady on Solid railway earningS

• The Toronto stock market closed little changed Wednesday amid strong earnings reports from Canada’s two big railways and glum news from China’s financial sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index gave up solid gains in the morning to end the session down 4.74 points at 13,243.3, bringing to an end six straight advances for the Toronto market as losses in the resource sectors accelerated in the late afternoon.

However, the TSX did find major support from Canadian National Railways and Canadian Pacific. Both blew past expectations and hit fresh 52-week highs with CN rising 4.4% and CP surging more than 10%.

The Canadian dollar tumbled after the Bank of Canada announced economic growth would be lower than expected through 2015. The currency tumbled 0.89 of a cent to US96.3¢.

U.S. indexes were lower as traders took in positive earnings from Boeing and a disappointment from Caterpillar.

The Dow Jones industrials lost 54.33 points to 15,413.33, the Nasdaq declined 22.50 points to 3,907.07 and the S&P 500 index was down 8.29 points at 1,746.38.

Canadian National Railway said after the close Tuesday quarterly profits climbed 6.1% to $705-million. CN also posted adjusted earnings of $1.72 a share, a dime better than estimates. Revenue came in at $2.7-billion, against estimates of $2.64-billion and its shares ran up $4.84 to $114.59 after hitting a new 52-week high of $116.20.

Wednesday, Canadian Pacific Railway posted record earnings and the lowest operating ratio in its history in the third quar- ter as revenue rose by 6% from last year to $1.5-billion. CP’s net income was $324-million or $1.84 per diluted share, up from $224-million or $1.30 per share in the third quarter of 2012. CP’s operating ratio improved to 65.9%, down from 74.1%. Its shares jumped $13.79, or 10.23%, to $148.53 after earlier hitting a 52-week high of $150.42.

Commodity prices were sharply lower amid speculation that the People’s Bank of China may tighten monetary policy to cool a hot property market. China reported Tuesday that house prices surged in some cities, including Guangzhou/Shenzhen where they soared 20% year-over-year.

Those in Shanghai jumped 17% while Beijing saw a 16% increase. The bank reported Wednesday outstanding real estate loans are up 19% from a year ago.

The market was dragged down by a 2.7% drop in the base metals sector as December copper lost 7¢ to US$3.27 a pound. Teck Resources fell 31¢ to $29.41 while HudBay Minerals fell 31¢ to $8.57.

The gold sector was down about 2.33% as bullion fell $8.60 to US$1,334 an ounce. Goldcorp faded 42¢ to $26.57 and Barrick Gold Corp. lost 35¢ to $20.12.

The energy sector was down about 1% as the December crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped $1.44 to US$96.86 a barrel, its lowest level since late June. Suncor Energy fell 87¢ to $36.64.

Oil declines piled up amid data showing a much larger than expected buildup of supplies last week.

Beyond the strong performance in the industrials sector, telecom stocks were also supportive, up 0.72% as Telus climbed 72¢ to $36.47.