Golds, banks pull TSX lower on weak data, Cyprus; RIM gains

By John Tilak

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Thursday, led by declines in gold shares that followed the bullion price lower and in financial stocks, as weak U.S. economic data and worries about spillover effects of the Cyprus crisis deepened investor gloom.

A rise in BlackBerry after the smartphone maker reported a surprise quarterly profit offset some of the losses.

Cypriots queued calmly at banks as they reopened on Thursday under tight controls imposed on transactions to prevent a run on deposits after the government was forced to accept a stringent EU rescue package to avert bankruptcy.

The banking crisis in Cyprus has weighed on investors for about a week, and some worry that it is an indication of shortcomings in the broader euro zone.

"Cyprus continues to be a problem. The question is, what's the fallout going to be?" said Fred Ketchen, director of equity trading at ScotiaMcLeod.

"Until there's clarification, the worries are the banking industry there will continue to struggle and have a negative effect on the market for a while," he added.

Investors also tracked data that showed a rise in U.S. jobless claims and a sluggish expansion of the U.S. economy in the fourth quarter of 2012.

"It's a mixed picture. We are in a period of stagnation" Ketchen said. "There's more negative emotion in the market than positive."

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.gsptse> was down 32.06 points, or 0.25 percent, at 12,667.59. Six of the 10 main sectors and the index were higher.

Financials, the index's weightiest sector, lost 0.6 percent, with Royal Bank of Canada giving back 0.8 percent to C$60.23.

The materials sector, which includes mining stocks, was down 0.5 percent, with the price of gold declining. Goldcorp Inc fell 0.6 percent to C$34.06.

Shares of BlackBerry gained 2 percent to C$15.09 and helped the information technology sector rise 0.9 percent.

"There's some relief. The attitude of the market is, maybe this is a sign of a turnaround," Ketchen said.

(Reporting by John Tilak)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tsx-may-open-higher-eye-volatile-blackberry-122723420--finance.html

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