"Any time you have the US 10-year making a big move like that, six beeps in the wrong direction for financials, that creates a little space," said Ian Scott, an equity analyst at Manulife Asset Management. Home Capital fell 15.5 percent to C$9.14 after it said in an earnings release late on Thursday that worries about its future funding capabilities had cast "significant doubt" on its ability to continue as a going concern.
Excavation company Badger Daylighting Ltd ended down 14.3 percent at C$26.20 after reporting earnings that missed expectations and prompted short-seller Marc Cohodes to speak out against the stock. "When a stock has had the run that Badger's had, it's been doing pretty well, it's vulnerable and people will shoot first and ask questions later," Manulife's Scott says, adding that his team had lightened up on its position in the name.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index closed down 12.67 points, or 0.08 percent, at 15,537.88. It lost 0.3 percent over the week. Hudson's Bay Co fell 4.6 percent to C$10.20 after the retailer reported disappointing quarterly same-store sales figures. "The whole department store space seems to be struggling to deal with the shift to an Amazon reality," Scott said, in reference to a broad move toward more online shopping.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 1 percent as higher metal prices broadly supported miners. Diversified miner Teck Resources rose 1.9 percent to C$25.26 after agreeing to sell its stake in a British Columbia dam and related assets for C$1.2 billion ($875 million). Online gambling company Amaya rose 3.3 percent to C$26.51 after beating profit expectations.
Copyright Reuters, 2017