TORONTO -- The Toronto stock market was little changed late morning Wednesday as Research In Motion Ltd. turned negative as it unveiled its long-awaited BlackBerry 10 products and data showed a surprising weakening of the U.S. economy in the fourth quarter.
The S&P/TSX composite index surrendered early gains as mining and energy stocks turned negative and dipped 3.47 points to 12,827.09 while the TSX Venture Exchange was down 0.93 of a point at 1,230.99.
RIM (TSX:RIM) had been up as much as four per cent prior before chief executive Thorsten Heins unveiled the BB10 and announced the company's corporate name would be changed to BlackBerry at a widely covered event in New York City.
But by late morning, RIM stock was down 55 cents or 3.5 per cent to $15.16, adding to declines over the past two sessions -- 3.4 per cent Tuesday and a 7.6 per cent drop on Monday. But that had been viewed merely as profit taking as the stock has staged a huge comeback since hitting a fresh 52-week low of $6.10 last September.
Analysts said the decline didn't amount to much and that consumer reaction to the new product will determine where the stock goes.
"I think it's too early to all of a sudden draw any real conclusions to this whole thing," said Fred Ketchen, manager of equity trading at Scotia Capital.
"It's going to take some weeks, maybe take some months until we get a real clear view. Now that it's going out and people will be able to buy it and use it, and express their preferences, likes and dislikes -- that's what will count most."
The U.S. Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the economy shrank by 0.1 per cent amid a plunge in defence spending and a 5.7 per cent drop in exports that analysts think was linked to hurricane Sandy. The recession in parts of the eurozone also hurt performance. Economists had expected growth of 1.1 per cent in the October-December period.
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.1 of a cent to 99.66 cents US.
U.S. indexes were lacklustre following the release of the GDP report, with the Dow Jones industrials down 9.04 points at 13,945.38. The Nasdaq shed 1.24 points to 3,152.42 while the S&P 500 index was down 2.04 points at 1,505.8.
Traders also looked to the wrap up of the Federal Reserve's meeting on interest rates.
No movement on interest rates is expected from the Fed. But traders will be looking for any hints as to when the Fed might start to wind up its current round of economic stimulus, which has involved buying bonds by increasing the money supply.
There has been a growing expectation that it may be tempted to reverse its position after minutes from the last meeting in December showed a split among members over how long to continue the stimulus. Some thought the program should be slowed or stopped before the end of 2013 amid concerns that the bond purchases would destabilize the economy.
Investors also digested earnings reports from corporate heavyweights including aircraft maker Boeing and online retailer Amazon.
Airplane maker Boeing Co. said its fourth-quarter profit fell 30 per cent to $978 million, or $1.28 a share, nine cents better than analysts expected. Revenue rose 14 per cent to $22.3 billion, which was slightly below expectations.
Boeing said its adjusted 2013 profit estimate of $6.10 to $6.30 a share assumes "no significant financial impact" from a move on Jan. 16 by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to ground the 787 Dreamliner pending a probe of its battery problem. Its shares rose 1.22 per cent to US$74.55.
Amazon stock ran ahead almost 5.5 per cent even as the online retailer said after the market close Tuesday that fourth-quarter net income fell 45 per cent to US$97 million, or 21 cents per share, seven cents below estimates. Revenue of $21.27 billion missed expectations of $22.26 billion. But Amazon's profit margin was much better than expected at 24.1 per cent compared with 20.7 per cent a year earlier.
Montreal-based IT services company CGI Group Inc. (TSX:GIB.A) says its first-quarter revenue more than doubled to $2.53 billion, up 147.5 per cent from a year earlier. CGI's net income was $22.4 million or seven cents per share, after including $153.4 million of costs related to its takeover of a U.K. firm. On an adjusted basis, CGI reported 44 cents per share of earnings for the quarter and its shares gained $1.41 to $25.70.
Traders also looked to positive employment data two days before the U.S. government comes out with its non-farm payrolls report for January.
Payroll firm ADP reported that the private sector created 192,000 jobs in January. Economists expect the government report to show that the economy created a total of 153,000 jobs, about the same amount as in December.
The industrials sector was the leading decliner on the TSX, with Canadian Pacific Railway (TSX:CP) down $1.70 to $114.52 after surging Tuesday in the wake of a well-received earnings report.
Telecoms also weighed on the TSX with Rogers Communications (TSX:RCI.B) down 52 cents to $46.53.
The base metals component lost 0.4 per cent even as March copper on the Nymex gained six cents to US$3.75 a pound. HudBay Minerals (TSX:HBM) rose 17 cents to C$11.69 while Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) gave back 42 cents to $36.84.
Oil prices lost some early momentum after the U.S. economic data was released as the March crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange edged up 24 cents to US$97.81 a barrel. But the energy sector was slightly lower and Cenovus Energy (TSX:CVE) shed 32 cents to C$33.61.
Gold prices moved higher as the U.S. growth data suggested the Fed could keep stimulus measures around for some time yet. The gold sector ran ahead about 1.5 per cent as February bullion advanced $18.60 to US$1,679.40 an ounce. Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) climbed 42 cents to C$36.53.
European bourses were lower as London's FTSE 100 index moved down 0.11 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX declined 0.43 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 slipped 0.54 per cent.
