Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market closed little changed Friday as poor earnings data and fresh concerns about the American financial sector competed with reassurance that the U.S. central bank is ready to stimulate the economy.

The S&P/TSX composite index declined 10.62 points to 12,609.07 after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said in a speech that the Fed is ready to buy Treasury bonds to spark growth. But it is still trying to figure out how big the program should be.

Equities have been lifted strongly in recent weeks amid hopes that the Fed will embark on another round of quantitative easing, which involves pumping more money into the U.S. economy by purchasing government bonds and taking other measures to encourage lending. But analysts note that since such moves increase the quantity of money in the system it lowers the value of each U.S. dollar.

Greenback weakness has pushed the Canadian dollar higher, with the loonie briefly hitting parity against the U.S. dollar on Thursday. On Friday, the U.S. dollar rebounded slightly in the wake of Bernanke’s comments and the Canadian dollar was down 0.57 of a cent at 98.83 cents US.

The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 0.5 of a point at 1,822.53.

Jean Francois Dion, portfolio adviser, Canadian equities, with RBC Dominion Securities, said investor sentiment was particularly depressed by worries about how financial institutions like Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. handled the foreclosure process on failed mortgages.

U.S. banks have been suspending foreclosures, citing flaws they have uncovered, including faulty or missing documentation.

“The big concern is the idea that some of the banks might be liable or forced to repurchase a lot of the mortgages that had been securitized,” said Dion.

“So, essentially, there’s now legal action coming back to the banks arguing that the due diligence process was flawed in many parts of it so essentially these investors are hoping banks will compensate them for their losses on mortgages that have been foreclosed.”

General Electric Co. also weighed on investor sentiment as it reported third-quarter income fell 18% because of a loss from a Japanese division that it’s selling. The industrial and financial giant reported net income of US$2.06 billion, or 18 cents per share for the quarter. Excluding the loss from its Japan consumer finance business, GE earned 29 cents per share, two cents above Wall Street estimates. But revenue missed expectations, slipping 5%, and its shares were down 86 cents, or 5%, at US$16.30.

“GE is still seen as a bellwether for the economy as a whole,” observed Dion.

The TSX base metals sector led decliners, down 0.6% even as copper prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange were ahead two cents at US$3.84 a pound. Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) lost 59 cents to C$46.01, while Western Coal Corp. (TSX:WTN) stepped back 19 cents to C$6.50.

But HudBay Minerals Inc. (TSX:HBM) shares gained 66 cents to $16.65 after it said updated resource estimates for its Back Forty project in Michigan include about one million ounces of contained gold and could “significantly improve” the economics of the project.

The gold sector was lower as the December gold contract in New York declined $5.60 from Thursday’s latest record high to US$1,372 an ounce. Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) faded 56 cents to C$48.53, while Yamana Gold Inc. (TSX:YRI) lost 29 cents to C$11.42.

The energy sector also declined, down 0.18% with the November crude contract on the Nymex off $1.44 at US$81.25 a barrel. Talisman Energy (TSX:TLM) shed 19 cents to C$17.99.

Questerre Energy Corp. (TSX:QEC) was a major decliner, down 27 cents or 13.92% to $1.67 after the Globe and Mail reported that the company and Talisman Energy Inc. (TSX:TLM) have delayed a plan for two shale-gas test wells in Quebec by at least six months. The Globe noted that Quebec residents have expressed concerns in public hearings that shale-gas drilling may affect water supplies.

PotashCorp (TSX:POT) was also in focus following a report from Asia that Chinese chemicals giant Sinochem Corp. won’t make a bid for the Canadian fertilizer giant. Investors have been hoping for a white knight bid to counter a hostile takeover offer by Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton PLC, which values PotashCorp at nearly US$39-billion. Potash Corp shares were off $1.44 at C$146.78.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 31.79 points to 11,062.78.

The Nasdaq composite index climbed 33.39 points to 2,468.77 with the index lifted by strong Google Inc. quarterly results. The Internet search giant reported a 32% jump in profit and its shares were up about 11%.

The S&P 500 index was 2.38 points higher at 1,176.19.

Markets in Toronto and New York racked up modest gains for the week with the S&P/TSX composite index ahead 73 points or 0.66% while the Dow industrials rose 56 points or 0.51%.

On the economic front, manufacturing sales in Canada put in a strong performance in August, rising 2% to $45.1 billion.

And in the U.S., a report showed retail sales in September rose faster than economists had predicted.

But the University of Michigan’s latest survey showed consumer sentiment slipping for a second month. The index dipped 0.3 points to 67.9 for October, the lowest reading since November 2009. On the bright side, the expectations component climbed 3.7 points to 64.6.

Elsewhere on the corporate front, shares in furniture and appliance leaser Easyhome Ltd. (TSX:EH) tumbled $2.25 or 19.74% to $9.15 after it said it had discovered a $3.4-million employee fraud case allegedly committed by a manager at one of its financial services kiosks.

Biopharmaceutical company Lorus Therapeutics Inc. (TSX:LOR) said Friday that it needs to arrange additional financing in order to fund its plans for the coming year. Its shares lost seven cents to $1.04.

Takeover target Capital Gold Corp. (TSX:CGC) says its annual profit for fiscal 2010 rose to US$12 million as revenue increased by 42% from the previous financial year. The company has received a friendly US$288-million takeover offer from Canadian miner Gammon Gold Inc. (TSX:GAM). Capital Gold shares were six cents lower at $4.62.