TSX ends slightly lower; eurozone to hold second summit on government debt crisis

There was also relief that the Greek parliament passed an austerity bill that includes more pay and staff cuts in the civil service as well as pension cuts and tax hikes for all Greeks, opening the way for a second round of bailouts to hopefully keep the country from defaulting.

“I think the measure buoyed the markets a little bit,” said BMO Capital Markets deputy chief economist Doug Porter, referring to the Greek vote which passed after two days of riots outside the country”s parliament building.

“I think there”s a bit more hope.”

The S&P/TSX composite index came back from a 151-point slide to close 19.17 points lower to 11,830.33 while the TSX Venture Exchange slipped 13.02 points to 1,512.79.

The Canadian dollar found lift following the two late-session developments, rising 0.5 of a cent to 98.52 cents US after earlier tumbling as low as 97.76 cents US.

U.S. markets ended the session mainly higher as the Dow Jones industrials gained 37.16 points to 11,541.78. The Nasdaq composite index was down 5.42 points to 2,598.62, while the S&P 500 index climbed 5.51 points to 1,215.39.

Investors had hoped that the weekend summit would produce a three-pronged solution to the debt crisis. That would include measures to boost the firepower of a bailout fund, a recapitalization of a large part of the banking sector and a plan to get the banks to take a bigger hit on their Greek debt holdings.

But hopes for something definitive from the Sunday summit in Brussels faded amid apparent disagreements within the eurozone over important parts of its strategy on Greece, banks and its bailout fund.

The French and German governments said that all elements of the eurozone”s crisis strategy would be discussed on Sunday “so it can be definitively adopted by the Heads of State and Government at a second meeting Wednesday at the latest.”

See-sawing expectations in recent days have resulted in the TSX swinging hundreds of points in either direction in daily trading.

Commodities have also seen huge swings because failure to tackle the debt crisis could result in a disorderly default by Greece, play havoc with the region”s banks and derail an already fragile economic recovery, which in turn would slash demand for oil and metals.

Thursday was no different, with the November crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange giving up early gains to trade 81 cents lower to US$85.30 a barrel after losing over $2 on Wednesday.

The energy sector shed 0.16% as Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ) lost 14 cents to $32.43 and Cenovus Energy (TSX:CVE) fell 16 cents to $35.09.

The base metals sector was slightly lower as worries about global growth pushed copper prices lower for a fourth day with the December contract on the Nymex plunging 20 cents to US$3.06 a pound. Quadra FNX Mining (TSX:QUX) gained 11 cents to $10.07 and Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN) dropped 15 cents to $16.66.

The gold sector was the biggest weight, down about one per cent as bullion prices also backed off for a fourth session. The December gold contract in New York fell $34.10 to US$1,612.90 an ounce. Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) faded 33 cents to $45.01 and Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) was down 74 cents to $44.94.

Tech stocks were also a weight as Celestica (TSX:CLS) gave back 28 cents to $7.90 ahead of issuing its quarterly earnings after the close.

The Toronto-based manufacturer reported third-quarter net earnings of US$50.2 million or 23 cents per share on revenue of US$1.83 billion, compared with US$21.3 million or nine cents per share on revenue of US$1.55 billion in the year-earlier period. Adjusted earnings were 26 cents per share, up from 18 cents in the 2010 quarter.

Sentiment had improved somewhat at mid-morning after a key regional manufacturing gauge came in much better than expected. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve said its index of manufacturing activity rebounded to 8.7 in October from negative 17.5 in September, the first positive reading in three months.

Also, the Conference Board”s index of leading indicators rose 0.2% in September.

Elsewhere, The Wall Street Journal reported the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is partnering with Microsoft Corp. and a private equity firm in a possible bid for Yahoo Inc. The WSJ had reported on Wednesday that private equity firms Silver Lake Partners, Blackstone Group, TPG Capital and Bain Capital are also exploring possible buyout scenarios for Yahoo. Yahoo shares rose 24 cents to US$16.18.

Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) has agreed to pay about US$1 billion in cash and stock to buy 51% of a Colombian retail bank. Canada”s most international bank plans to integrate its own wholesale operations in Colombia into Banco Colpatria, which has a network of 175 branches and 308 automatic teller machines. Scotiabank shares declined six cents to $51.67.

In other earnings news, natural gas and liquids giant Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA) said quarterly profit came in at US$120 million, down from US$606 million a year ago as the company was hit with a big currency translation loss. Revenues fell to $2.35 billion from $2.4 billion. Its shares edged cents lower to $ .

Shaw Communications Inc. (TSX:SJR.B) shares dropped 49 cents to $20.60 . The company saw its overall fourth-quarter profit fall by 32% to $$82.5 million, as losses from its aborted wireless strategy offset gains elsewhere. Revenue at the cable, Internet and satellite TV provider was $1.18 billion, up from nearly $938.9 million a year earlier.