The Toronto stock market was lower Thursday as Canadian insurers took a hit to their stock prices after a round of disappointing earnings reports while investors digested fresh signs of slow job growth in the United States. The S&P/TSX composite index lost 35.4 points to 11,809.7 and the TSX Venture Exchange inched up 0.87 of a point to 1,454.33. The Canadian dollar was up 0.31 of a cent to 98.58 cents US. The TSX financial sector was the biggest TSX decliner, down almost one per cent. Shares in Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC) fell $1.14 or seven per cent to $14.86 after the insurance giant booked a huge and “disappointing” $2.4-billion loss on lower equity markets and interest rates. That compared with net income of $1.8 billion in the year-earlier period. On Wednesday, Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX:SLF), Canada’s third largest insurance company, reported its net profits fell sharply in the second quarter as volatile stock markets and a big loss in its U.S. operations squeezed the company’s business. Earnings came in at $213 million compared with profits of $591 million a year ago. Sun Life said its total adjusted revenue in the quarter fell to $5.75 billion from $6.2 billion a year earlier and its shares fell 90 cents to $27.70. Investor sentiment also soured after the U.S. Labor Department reported that initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 479,000 last week. Economists had expected a small drop in claims to 455,000. “As much as I would love to point out how volatile these weekly moves can be, this is clearly a troubling development — plus, the four-week moving average remains stuck above 450,000 and can’t seem to break below that level,” said BMO Capital Markets senior economist Jennifer Lee. The report came out a day before July employment data for the United States and Canada is released. With unemployment the biggest hurdle to a stronger U.S. recovery, traders are expecting to see private sector job growth of about 90,000 in July. Meanwhile, Statistics Canada is expected to report that the economy cranked out another 15,000 jobs last month. The earnings story was more positive with BCE Inc. (TSX:BCE). The country’s largest telecommunications company said it is boosting its annual dividend five per cent to $1.83 a share. The company reported that quarterly earnings came in at $590 million, up 71 per cent from a year earlier. Revenue at its main subsidiary, Bell Canada, rose 4.5 per cent to $3.79 billion on growth in its TV and wireless divisions. BCE added that it sees 2010 revenue growth the Bell unit at between two and three per cent, higher than its previous estimate of one to two per cent and its shares rose 20 cents to $31.80. The base metals sector declined 0.77 per cent as the September copper contract in New York slipped four cents to US$3.37 a pound. Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) declined 48 cents to C$36.72. The gold sector was off 0.6 per cent as the December bullion contract on the Nymex gained $3.40 to US$1,199.30 an ounce. The energy sector was flat as oil prices slipped for a second day after data showed rising gasoline inventories in the United States. The September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange declined 70 cents to US$81.77 a barrel. Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ) rose 33 cents to C$36.75. In Canadian economic news, activity in the non-residential sector pushed the value of building permits to $6.6 billion in June. That is up 6.5 per cent from May and a 24.9 per cent increase from a year earlier. The value of non-residential permits increased 23.5 per cent while the value of residential permits fell 4.5 per cent. New York’s Dow Jones industrials lost 43 points to 10,637.5. The Nasdaq composite index moved down 8.78 points to 2,294.79 while the S&P 500 index slipped 5.95 points to 1,121.3. In other earnings news, Air Canada (TSX:AC.B) says deeper foreign exchange losses pulled the company to a net loss of $203 million in the second quarter, compared with net income of $155 million as year ago. Since Air Canada operates around the world and collects much of its revenues in U.S. dollars and foreign currencies, a stronger loonie reduces top-line revenues on its books when translated into Canadian dollars. Operating revenues increased to $2.63 billion from $2.33 billion and Air Canada shares dropped 13 cents to $2.17. Canaccord Financial reported a big drop in its profits in the latest quarter, mainly because of acquisition-related costs from its takeover of Genuity Capital Markets. Canaccord (TSX:CF) earned $4.9 million compared with profits of 9.1 million a year ago. Year-over-year revenues rose 10.5 per cent to $151.9 million and its shares lost 28 cents to $10.06. Penn West Energy Trust (TSX:PWT.UN) swung to a second-quarter profit of $195 million, reversing a year-earlier loss of $41 million as it booked a future income tax recovery of $191 million during the period. Its units added three cents to $20.19. In overseas trading, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index gained 1.7 per cent with shares boosted by gains in automakers. Optimism surrounding the car manufacturers came after Toyota reported a quarterly profit of 190.5 billion yen (US$2.2 billion), reversing from red ink a year earlier, and raised its annual profit forecast to 340 billion yen (US$4 billion) from 310 billion yen (US$3.6 billion). Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed flat and the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.7 per cent. London’s FTSE 100 index was unchanged, Frankfurt’s DAX gained 0.22 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 was ahead 0.42 per cent.

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