Golds boost TSX; Blackberry plummets 26%

The Toronto stock market moved sharply higher Friday, as gains in the gold sector were more than enough to offset a 26% decline in BlackBerry stock after the smartphone maker surprised traders with a quarterly loss and disappointing revenue.

The S&P/TSX composite index ran up 123.33 points to 12,129.11.

BlackBerry shares (TSX:BB) tumbled $3.97 to $11.08 after saying that it lost US$84-million in the first quarter when the smartphone maker launched its latest Z10 touchscreen model. On an adjusted basis, BlackBerry had a loss of $67-million or 13¢ per share. Analysts had expected an adjusted profit of 6¢ per share.

Besides the unexpected loss and disappointing revenue, analysts were unhappy with a lack of specific sales figures for BlackBerry’s new smartphones. “They’re still not telling people how well they’re doing,” said Sadiq Adatia, chief investment officer at Sun Life Global Investment.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.39 of a cent to US95.08¢ even as Statistics Canada reported that gross domestic product grew by 0.1%, which was in line with expectations.

U.S. indexes largely turned lower late in the session after three days of strong gains that reflected an atmosphere of calm that seemed to have settled on markets during this week. The Dow Jones industrials moved 114.89 points lower to 14,909.6, the Nasdaq gained 1.38 points to 3403.25 and the S&P 500 index ticked 6.92 points lower to 1606.28.