TSX to open little changed ahead of Canadian GDP data, American consumer reports

TORONTO – The Toronto stock market looked to open little changed as investors prepared to take in data on Canadian economic growth and U.S. readings on consumer spending and confidence.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.08 of a cent to 92.36 cents US ahead of Statistics Canada releasing its gross domestic product data for March and the first quarter. Economists are looking for an annualized rise of 1.7 per cent for the quarter and 0.1 per cent for the month.

That data is of particular concern, coming out days before the Bank of Canada releases its next interest rate announcement.

U.S. futures were little changed with the Dow Jones industrial futures down eight points to 16,673, the Nasdaq futures were down 0.5 of a point to 3,735 and the S&P 500 futures dipped 1.3 points to 1,916.6.

Economists looked for April consumer spending to come in unchanged for April, after jumping 0.9 per cent in March, the biggest gain since the summer of 2009.

And the University of Michigan’s widely-watched consumer-sentiment survey is expected to edge up to 82.5 in May, from 81.8 in April.

On the corporate front, French energy giant Total E&P Canada said late Thursday that it is putting its Joslyn oilsands project northwest of Fort McMurray, Alta., on hold indefinitely because of escalating costs. There were no indications as to whether the ownership structure of Joslyn would change. Currently, Total has a 38.25 per cent stake, Suncor Energy (TSX:SU) has 36.75 per cent, Occidental Petroleum has 15 per cent and Inpex Canada has 10 per cent.

There are reports that French banking giant BNP Paribas is about to get hit with huge fines over a U.S. investigation of alleged financial wrongdoing. BNP is one of several banks that have held talks with U.S. regulators about payments to countries, people or entities that may have breached U.S. sanctions. Last year, the bank set aside US$1.1 billion after becoming the subject of the investigation, but a month ago raised the possibility that the amount of fines could be “far in excess.”

Commodity prices were lower across the board as June crude lost 51 cents to US$103.07 a barrel.

July copper added a penny to US$3.15 a pound, while August gold faded $3.20 to US$1,253.90 an ounce.

The TSX is on its way to a losing week, largely because of sliding mining stocks. The gold sector has fallen six per cent last week while base metals have shed three per cent.

Gold prices in particular have been under heavy pressure this week with markets feeling more comfortable with the Ukraine crisis while there is more concern about deflation rather than inflation, particularly in Europe. In addition to falling prices, the costs of getting gold out of the ground have increased.

The financials sector is ending the week flat even as most of the big banks breezed past analyst expectations for adjusted earnings.