Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market ended Friday deep in the red after a much weaker-than-expected consumer confidence report south of the border and some disappointing earnings from key U.S. companies.
 
The S&P/TSX composite index lost 172.12 points to 11,569.65 amid a broad-based decline in commodities tied to ongoing uncertainty about the strength of the economic recovery. The index was flat on the week, down 0.8 of a point.
 
Weaker growth expectations in China and the United States, combined with the continued sluggish recovery in debt-plagued Europe, have dampened the prices of everything from oil and metals to coal and wood products — commodities used to fuel growth in the global economy.
 
“As the week has gone on we’ve moved from a focus on earnings to a focus back on macro data, on the big economic numbers,” said Colin Cieszynski, market analyst at CMC Markets Canada.
 
The Canadian dollar took a beating too Friday, tumbling 1.44 cents to 94.82 cents US as commodity prices moved lower.
 
“Canada’s just getting caught in the crossfire,” Cieszynski said. “With equity markets coming down and with crude oil coming down, that’s been dragging on the Canadian dollar even against the U.S. dollar.”
 
In New York, markets plunged following an abysmal consumer sentiment reading out of the University of Michigan. The index of consumer confidence dropped to 66.5 in July from 76.0 in the prior month. The reading was its lowest level in nearly a year.
 
The decline was exacerbated by worse-than-forecast earnings from technology giant Google Inc. (Nasdaq:GOOG). The company’s second-quarter profit of US$1.84 billion missed analysts’ expectations due to higher expenses and fallout from the European debt crisis. The Internet search leader gets about one-third of its revenue from Europe.
 
And lower revenues at both Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) put downward pressure on financial stocks on both sides of the border.
 
The weak earnings offset more upbeat results from General Electric (NYSE:GE), which posted its first gain in quarterly profits since late 2007, and news that BP had stopped oil from leaking into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in nearly three months.
 
The Toronto energy sector fell 1.8% as the August crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange lost 61 cents to end at US$76.01 a barrel. Shares in Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA) fell 85 cents to C$33.59.
 
The August bullion contract on the Nymex lost $20.10 to close at US$1,188.20 an ounce, while gold stocks were down 1.6%. Shares in Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) lost 86 cents to C$44.
 
Financials fell 1.6% amid the weak earnings reports from Citigroup and Bank of America, and news that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) has agreed to pay US$550 million to settle civil fraud charges based on its sale of risky mortgage securities. This is the largest penalty against a Wall Street firm in the history of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
 
The base metals sector tumbled 2.5% as the September copper contract on the Nymex lost 8.25 cents to US$2.93 per pound. Shares in Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B) lost 84 cents to C$33.44.
 
In economic news, Statistics Canada said its composite index of economic leading indicators, a key indicator of future economic activity, rose 1% in June, with growth concentrated in the manufacturing sector.
 
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 7.39 points to 1,379.47.
 
All the major New York indexes tumbled with the Nasdaq ending the session down more than 3%. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 261.41 points to 10,097.90. The Nasdaq composite index plunged 70.03 points at 2,179.05 while the S&P 500 index fell 31.60 points to 1,064.88.
 
The consumer price index, the U.S. government’s most closely watched inflation barometer, dipped 0.1% in June. Less expensive energy bills were a big factor behind the drop. Prices for some food items and airline fares also fell last month, but so-called “core” consumer prices, which strip out volatile energy and food items, rose 0.2% in June.
 
In corporate news, shares in Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. (TSX:TKM) jumped 51 cents or 38% to C$1.85 after the biotechnology firm said it has been awarded a multimillion-dollar funding contract with the U.S. Defence Department.
 
Quadra FNX Mining Ltd. (TSX:QUX) said it has increased its equity stake in Gold Wheaton Gold Corp. (TSX:GLW) to 34.5%. Shares in Quadra fell 35 cents to $10.74, while shares in Gold Wheaton lost three cents to $2.25.
 
Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B) said the Chinese Ministry of Railways has ordered 40 additional high-speed trains valued at US$761 million from a Bombardier Transportation joint venture. The company said its portion of the contract is worth US$373 million. Shares in Bombardier lost one cent to $4.74.
 
Meanwhile, Apple Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL) said it will give free protective cases to buyers of its latest iPhone to alleviate the so-called “death grip” problem in which holding the phone with a bare hand can weaken the wireless signal.
 
Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the giveaway Friday during a news conference at the company’s headquarters, even as the company denied that the iPhone 4 has an antenna problem that needs fixing.