The Toronto stock market closed lower Thursday as traders stepped back after a string of gains that brought the TSX back into positive territory for the year.
The S&P/TSX composite index lost 53.54 points to 12,481.37, while the Canadian dollar was up US0.36¢ to US98.94¢ after earlier running up to a two-month high of US99.15¢.
U.S. indexes added to three days of gains as the number of Americans seeking U.S. unemployment benefits fell 42,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 346,000, which beat expectations of 360,000.
The Dow Jones industrials were up 62.9 points to 14,865.14, while the Nasdaq composite index climbed 2.9 points to 3,300.16 after International Data Corp. reported global PC shipments fell 14% in the first quarter, the biggest decline ever.
The S&P 500 index edged up 5.64 points to 1,593.37.
The gains pushed the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 further into record territory. The Dow has jumped 13.4% year-to-date while the S&P 500 has charged ahead almost 11.75% as investors react to a resurgent housing sector and the conviction that the Federal Reserve won't be ending its stimulus program of buying bonds any time soon.
"We're still net/net standing positively toward the U.S. market," said Sid Mokh-tari, a market technician at CIBC World Markets.
The TSX is only about 50 points in the positive column for the year as of the close Thursday and indications are it will continue to badly underperform New York, in large part because it is so resource based.
The TSX tech sector was the leading decliner, down 2% with BlackBerry down $1.11 or 7.43% to $13.82.
The base metals sector lost 1.47% even as May copper shed early declines to rise 2¢ to US$3.43 a pound. Teck Resources declined 38¢ to $28.70.
The gold sector was off about 1.5% while June bullion was up $6.10 to US$1,564.90 an ounce. Iamgold faded 26¢ to $6.26, while Barrick Gold gained 19¢ to $25. Barrick shares tumbled almost 9% Wednesday after a Chilean court suspended work on its Pascua-Lama mine when indigenous communities complained the project is threatening their water supply.
Gold slid 1.7% on Wednesday, partly on speculation that Cyprus will sell 400 million euros worth as part of its bailout.
The May crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange declined $1.13 to US$93.51 a barrel. Prices backed off after the International Energy Agency lowered its expectations for global demand for crude in 2013 by 45,000 barrels to 90.6 million barrels a day.
