BLACKBERRY MAKER BLACKBERRY MAKER PUSHES TSX LOWER

The Toronto stock market was lower Wednesday as Research In Motion Ltd. fell following the launch of its BlackBerry 10 products and data showed a surprising weakening of the U.S. economy in the fourth quarter.

The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 36.12 points to 12,794.44 while the TSX Venture Exchange was down 9.57 points at 1,222.35.

RIM had been up as much as 4% before chief executive Thorsten Heins unveiled the BB10 and announced the company’s corporate name would be changed to BlackBerry at an event in New York City.

But RIM stock closed down $1.85 or 11.78% to $13.86 on very heavy volume of 22.73 million shares.

The stock was hit with a wave of profit taking after hitting a 52-week high of $18.49 early last week. That represented a stunning gain of 203% since hitting a 52-week low of $6.10 last September and at one point was up 50% during January alone.

Analysts said consumer reaction to the new product will ultimately determine where the stock goes.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported Wednesday the economy shrank by 0.1% amid a plunge in defence spending and a 5.7% drop in exports that analysts think was linked to hurricane Sandy. The recession in parts of the eurozone also hurt performance. Economists had expected growth of 1.1% in the October to December period.

The Canadian dollar gained US0.09¢ to US99.85¢.

The Dow Jones industrials closed down 44 points at 13,910.42. The Nasdaq shed 11.35 points to 3,142.31 while the S&P 500 index was off 5.88 points at 1,501.96.

Investors also digested earnings reports from corporate heavyweights including aircraft maker Boeing Co., which said its fourth-quarter profit fell 30% to $978 million, or $1.28 a share, 9¢ better than analysts expected. Boeing said its adjusted 2013 profit estimate of $6.10 to $6.30 a share assumes “no significant financial impact” from a move on Jan. 16 by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to ground the 787 Dreamliner pending a probe of its battery problem. Its shares rose 1.28% to US$74.59. Bloomberg reported that Rio Tinto

Group, the world’s second-biggest mining company, is considering a temporary halt to construction work at its US$6.2 billion Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in Mongolia as the government demands a greater share of profit from the mine.

Rio has a 66% stake in Oyu Tolgoi through its 51% interest in Vancouverbased Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd., formerly known as Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. Turquoise Hill shares fell 28¢ to $7.87.