Gold, financial stocks boost TSX with small gain

Negative news weighs on indexes Oil price, energy sector slightly off

Gold and financial stocks awarded the Toronto stock market with a small advance yesterday with the TSX held back by tech and energy stocks as the price of oil retreated.

Attempts at a rally on New York markets fizzled late in the session as investors dealt with suicide bombing attacks on three hotels in Amman, Jordan, frequented by Westerners. At least 53 people were killed and 120 wounded.

Negative corporate news also weighed on indexes. Markets have been sluggish this week as investors look for a catalyst to launch a year-end rally.

“ It was pretty amazing, the calendar flipped over to November and all of a sudden, stocks took off,” said Patricia Croft, chief economist at Phillips, Hager and North. “But just turning over the calendar didn’t resolve many of the uncertainties in the market ( such as) the economy, state of the U. S. consumer, where is the price of oil going, how much central banks will tighten and so on.”

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average edged up 6.49 points to 10,546.21. The Nasdaq climbed 3.74 points at 2,175.81.

Oil prices fell 78 cents to $58.93 ( U. S.) a barrel in New York even as the U. S. Department of Energy reported higher than expected crude inventories in the United States. The TSX energy sector fell 0.5 per cent as EnCana Corp. moved 98 cents lower to $ 52.87. The gold sector was the main advancer as futures rose $ 4.40 to $ 466.30 ( U. S.) an ounce in New York. Barrick Gold shares were ahead 72 cents to $ 30.57.

Shares in Vancouver-based miner Goldcorp were ahead 56 cents to $ 23.60 after the company earned $ 56.5 million ( U. S.) compared with a profit of $ 9.9 million a year ago. Quarterly revenue grew more than $ 150 million ( U. S.) to $ 203.7 million.

Shares in financial-services firm Canaccord Capital were ahead 76 cents to $ 13.08 after the company said its net income grew by 150 per cent in the most recent quarter to $ 15.7 million on strong capital markets.

Other financial gainers included TD Bank, up $ 1.02 to $ 57.40. The information-technology sector was the weakest with shares in Research in Motion losing $ 3.28 to $ 72.31 as investors worry a patent infringement case will result in a shutdown of its BlackBerry wireless device in the United States. On the TSX, advances beat declines 804 to 662 with 219 unchanged.

In the U. S., American International Group said it’ll have to restate results again amid errors in areas in which it’s already disclosed weaknesses, such as derivatives and tax accounting. AIG believes third- quarter results have been understated by $500 million ( U. S.). AIG’s shares ended up 52 cents to $ 66.37 after analysts recommended clients buy on the stock’s dip earlier in the day.

General Motors Corp. slid to a 13- year low after a research note from Deutsche Bank raised questions about what would happen to the auto maker if workers strike at its parts supplier, Delphi Corp. Its shares skidded $ 1.23 to $ 24.63 ( U. S.).

Toronto market volume was 267.96 million shares worth $ 4.56 billion. The Nasdaq Canada index was down 5.23 points at 421.47.