The Toronto Stock Exchange posted its first decline in three trading days Thursday as the country's biggest insurance company delivered a record loss and U.S. jobless claims came in higher than expected.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 70.28 points, or 0.59%, to 11,774.77, with financials leading the declines.
Manulife Financial Corp. lost $2.4-billion in the second quarter, its worst loss since becoming a public company in 1999. Manulife stock declined 11.25% to $14.20.
"Manulife has had a bit of a problem for quite a while now, and I think they're still trying to deal with it," said Fred Ketchen, director of equity trading with ScotiaMcLeod in Toronto. "But shareholders are impatient people sometimes. They don't like having to wait."
Sun Life Financial Inc., which reported a big decline in quarterly profits on Wednesday after the market closed, was down 4.65 % to $27.27 on Thursday.
On the other hand, there were better-than-expected results from other Canadian companies such as BCE Inc. and WestJet Airlines Ltd. BCE shares saw a rise of 1.77% to close at $32.16, while WestJet was down 0.08% to $12.98.
Research In Motion Ltd., facing increasing pressure from foreign governments over the encryption system for BlackBerry messages, was down for a third straight day. In Thursday's session, it was down 2.18% to $53.06.
The junior TSX Venture composite was up 5.61 points, or 0.39%, to 1,459.07.
The U.S. Labor Department said initial jobless claims last week were up 19,000 to 479,000. Economists had expected the number of filings to fall to 455,000.
The Dow Jones industrial average was off 5.45 points, or 0.05%, to 10,674.98. The Nasdaq composite index fell 10.51 points, or 0.46%, to 2,293.06.
Crude oil was down US46¢ to $82.01 a barrel in New York. Gold was up US$3.50 to US$1,197.20 an ounce.
The Canadian dollar was up 10 basis points to US98.37¢.
European markets were mixed, with gains in Germany and France but declines in the U.K. Asian markets were mostly higher.
Friday's market activity is expected to be significantly influenced by U.S. employment numbers for July. A loss of 65,000 jobs is expected. Canadian job numbers are also scheduled, and the consensus is for a gain here of 12,500 positions, according to economists polled by Bloomberg.
"From talk that you hear about the real estate market still in the U.S., there's a problem," Ketchen said. "There's a problem that runs deeper than just employment; it's right down through the whole economy."
