The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index finished little changed on Friday, supported by energy shares but undermined by anxiety after Bank of Montreal said it will take charges that result partly from securities hit by the credit crunch.
Most of the index's sectors were lower a day after the index fell to its lowest level in 2-1/2 months amid worries over the fallout from the credit squeeze and the health of the US economy.
The lightweight consumer staples sector lost the most on Friday, 1.5 percent, dragged down by a decline in Loblaw Cos. Loblaw fell nearly 3 percent, down C$1.01 at C$34.54, as analysts cut their stock-price targets a day after the company posted disappointing results. The big financials group, under pressure from writedowns at Canadian and US banks, fell 0.3 percent.
"There's still a general fear out there," said Brian Pow, vice president, research and equity analyst at Acumen Capital Partners, in Calgary, Alberta. "There's just a lack of commitment by anyone in general, a lot of head-scratching, which just says cash may be better than anything right now."
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 5.93 points, or 0.04 percent, at 13,530.36 with six of the TSX's 10 main groups lower. The index was down 2.4 percent on the week and has lost 7.5 percent since the start of November.
On the upside, the energy group finished 0.4 percent higher as the price of oil rose $1.67 to $95.10 a barrel, helped by short-covering ahead of the expiration of December futures and by a weaker US dollar. Suncor Energy was up C$1.35, or 1.4 percent, at C$99.50, and Petro-Canada gained 51 Canadian cents, or 1 percent, to C$51.64.
Sal Masionis, stockbroker at Brant Securities said that the market seemed to be starting to show some resilience in Friday's session. "We've managed to take all of the bad news and seem to come back and stabilise a little bit," he said.
In financials, Bank of Montreal, Canada's fifth-largest bank by market value, was down 46 Canadian cents, or 0.8 percent, at C$56.66. Bank of Nova Scotia dipped 54 Canadian cents, or 1.1 percent, to C$49.55. Market volume was 356 million shares worth C$5.9 billion. Decliners outpaced advancers 918 to 650. The blue chip S&P/TSX 60 index closed up 1.53 points, or 0.19 percent, at 786.19.