Canadian stocks are lower Thursday morning, weighed by weak commodity prices and some disappointing corporate earnings reports.
Gold prices tumbled amid upbeat U.S. GDP figures this morning, triggering heavy selling in bullion miners.
Meanwhile, the U.S. initial jobless claims unexpectedly increased last week. The Federal Reserve had indicated yesterday that interest rate hikes may happen sooner than anticipated earlier if the economy continued to recover.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 62.03 points or 0.43 percent at 14,465.54, after having declined to 14,412.96 earlier.
On Wednesday, the index ended down 96.68 points or 0.66 percent at 14,527.57, after scaling a intraday high of 14,641.33 and a low of 14,471.60.
The Diversified Metals & Mining Index is down 2.2 percent. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.TO), Lundin Mining Corporation (LUN.TO) and Capstone Mining Corp. (CS.TO) are declining 3 to 4.5 percent.
Teck Resources Limited (TCK.B.TO), Sherritt International Corporation (S.TO) and Nevsun Resources Ltd. (NSU.TO) and Major Drilling Group International Inc. (MDI.TO) are lower by 2 to 2.6 percent, while HudBay Minerals Inc. (HBM.TO) is down 1.5 percent.
Meanwhile, Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (TRQ.TO) is moving up nearly 1 percent.
The Capped Materials Index is down 3.2 percent. GoldCorp Inc. (G.TO) is declining over 8.5 percent after reporting a net loss of $44 million or $0.05 per share for the third quarter, compared to net earnings of $5 million or $0.01 per share in the third quarter of 2013.
Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) is down 3.2 percent. Barrick Gold said adjusted third quarter net earnings fell to $222 million or $0.19 per share from $577 million or $0.58 per share in the prior year period.
Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM.TO) is down nearly 10 percent, Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI.TO) is down over 11 percen, Eldorado Gold Corporation (ELD.TO) is declining 5.2 percent, Kinross Gold Corporation (K.TO) is down 5 percent and Silver Wheaton Corp. (SLW.TO) is declining 4.2 percent, while Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO) and B2Gold Corp. (BTO.TO) are lower by 2.5 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
The Energy Index is down nearly 1 percent. Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ.TO), Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO), Crescent Point Energy Corp. (CPG.TO), Encana Corporation (ECA.TO), Imperial Oil Limited (IMO.TO), ARC Resources Ltd. (ARX.TO), Canadian Oil Sands Limited (COS.TO), Husky Energy Inc. (HSE.TO) and Vermilion Energy Inc. (VET.TO) are lower by 1 to 2.2 percent.
Meanwhile, Suncor Energy Inc. (SU.TO) is up 0.5 percent. The company reported third quarter net earnings of C$919 million or C$0.63 per share, down from C$1.694 billion or C$1.13 per share for the prior year quarter.
The Financial Index is down marginally, with five of the big six banks little changed from their previous closing levels. Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is down 1.3 percent.
The Industrials Index is down 0.5 percent. Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) is declining 2.2 percent after it said its third-quarter net income fell to US$74 million or three cents per share, down from $147 million or eight cents per share in the third quarter of 2013.
Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. (BIN.TO) is rising 3.2 percent after reporting earnings of $0.36 per share for the third quarter, beating expectations.
The Healthcare Index is up 0.85 percent with Catamaran Corporation (CCT.TO) moving up nearly 10 percent after reporting third quarter net income of $82.0 million or $0.39 per share, up 12 percent from $72.9 million or $0.35 per share in the year ago quarter. Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRX.TO) is modestly higher, while Extendicare Inc. (EXE.TO) is down marginally.
Thomson Reuters Corp. (TRI.TO) is down more than 1 percent after reporting third-quarter 2014 earnings of $231 million or $0.28 per share, down from $271 million or $0.33 per share in the same quarter last year.
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (MFI.TO) shares are down 2.5 percent after the company reported adjusted loss per share C$0.13 in the third quarter, compared to loss of $0.19 per share in the same period last year.
In commodities, crude oil futures for December are down $1.19 or 1.45 percent at $81.01 a barrel.
Natural gas for December is up $0.025 or 0.67 percent at $3.814 per million btu.
Gold futures for December are down $26.40 or 2.16 percent at $1,198.50 an ounce.
Silver for December is down $0.866 or 5.02 percent at $16.398 an ounce, the lowest level in nearly 5 years. Meanwhile, copper is down $0.058 or 1.88 percent at $3.046 per pound.
In economic news from the U.S., data released by the U.S. Labor Department showed initial jobless claims to have edged up to 287,000 in the week ended October 25th, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised level of 284,000.
A report from the Commerce Department showed U.S. economic activity to have increased by more than expected 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2014, compared to the 4.6 percent growth seen in the second quarter. Economists had expected GDP to climb by 3.0 percent.
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