TSX Settles Ends Lower On Ukraine Crisis -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks ended lower Thursday, amid the continued stand-off between Russia and West with the U.S. imposing sanctions against Moscow. The Ukrainian crisis became more complicated with the Crimean parliament voting to join Russia although Ukraine Prime Minister says the region will remain a part of his country.

Nevertheless, Bank of Canada kept interest rates at 1 percent, same as it has been for more than 3 years, even as the central bank indicated closely watching for signs of inflation. Elsewhere in Europe, the Bank of England kept its key interest rate at a record low 0.5 percent in support of the economic recovery. The European Central Bank also left its main refinancing rate unchanged at a record low 0.25 percent for a fourth month.

In some upbeat economic news from across the border, a U.S. Labor Department report showed initial claims for unemployment benefits to have dropped more than expected last week -- an upbeat sign for the labor market ahead of tomorrow's monthly jobs report.

The closely watched monthly employment report for February is expected to show employment increase of about 150,000 jobs in February, following the addition of 113,000 jobs in January. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 6.6 percent.

Meanwhile, new orders for U.S. manufactured goods fell more than expected in January, a report from the Commerce Department showed Thursday.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed Thursday at 14,271.92, down 32.25 points or 0.23 percent. The index scaled an intraday high of 14,323.28 and a low of 14,264.68.

The Global Gold Index gained 0.48 percent, with gold futures for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, adding $11.50 or 0.9 percent to close at $1,351.80 an ounce Thursday on the Nymex.

Among gold stocks, Kinross Gold Corp. (K.TO) shed 1.97 percent, while Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) added 0.53 percent. Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO) slipped 0.76 percent, while Osisko Mining Corp. (OSK.TO) dropped 0.92 percent.

The Capped Materials Index added 0.58 percent, with Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (POT.TO) up 0.83 percent.

Crude oil rallied at close to end higher with the dollar trending lower against a basket of major currencies, amid continued stand-off between Russia and West.

The Energy Index gained 0.23 percent, with U.S. crude oil futures for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, adding $0.11 or 0.1 percent to close at $101.56 a barrel Thursday on the Nymex.

Among energy stocks, Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM.TO) dropped 1.52 percent, while Encana Corp. (ECA.TO, ECA) gained 0.97 percent. Suncor Energy Inc. (SU.TO) moved up 0.47 percent, while Enbridge Inc. (ENB.TO) slipped 0.51 percent.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNQ.TO) gained 0.27 percent after reporting a rise in fourth-quarter profit, as revenues increased with improved production. However, adjusted earnings and revenues missed analysts' expectations.

The heavyweight Financial Index slipped 0.27 percent with the Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) dipping 0.14 percent, Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) down 0.05 percent, and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) surrendering 0.65 percent.

The Diversified Metals & Mining Index added 1.72 percent, with Teck Resources Limited (TCK.B.TO) up 2.72 percent, Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN.TO) up 0.57 percent, and First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) up 0.19 percent.

The Information Technology Index dropped 0.84 percent, with BlackBerry Limited (BB.TO) slipping 1.34 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index slipped 0.61 percent, with Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) adding 1.13 percent.

In other corporate news, SNC Lavalin (SNC.TO) dropped 4.09 percent after announcing a dividend of $0.24 per share, up 4% compared to current quarterly dividend. Fourth quarter earnings per share were down a penny to 61 cents.

Great Panther Silver (GPR.TO) fell 3.38 percent after an illegal miner was killed by guards at the company's silver mine in Mexico.

In economic news, weekly initial jobless claims for U.S. unemployment benefits dropped to 323,000, a decrease of 26,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 349,000. Economists expected jobless claims to dip to 338,000 from the 348,000 originally reported for the previous week. This is the lowest level jobless claims have dropped since hitting 305,000 in the last week of November.

Factory orders in the U.S. dropped 0.7 percent in January after tumbling by a revised 2.0 percent in December. Economists expected orders to decrease by 0.5 percent compared to the 1.5 percent drop originally reported for the previous month. The drop in orders largely reflect another notable decrease in orders for transportation equipment, which fell by 5.7 percent in January after plunging by 12.1 percent in December.

The pace of labor productivity growth in the fourth quarter of 2013 showed a notable downward revision, with output rising much less than previously estimated, a U.S. Labor Department released showed Thursday. Productivity increased by 1.8 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the previously reported 3.2 percent increase. Economists expected the pace of productivity growth to be downwardly revised to 2.4 percent.

The European Central Bank's Governing Council left its In the latest macroeconomic projections, the ECB staff raised growth forecast for the year to 1.2 percent from 1.1 percent seen in December. The growth outlook for 2015 was maintained at 1.5 percent, while the first set of forecast for 2016 indicates growth at 1.8 percent.