(RTTNews) - Commodity-backed stocks saw notable weakness on Thursday dragging Toronto’s market into the red.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 76.99 points or 0.69% to move at 11,360.76. The market backed off the two-week high seen earlier this week.

Mining stocks dropped 3.1% as HudBay (HBM.TO) dropped 4.6%. The company HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO) said Peter Jones will retire as chief executive officer of the company effective December 31.

FNX Mining (FNX.TO) dropped 1.1% after the company reported a wider third-quarter net loss of C$58.50 million or C$0.65 per share compared with C$26.54 million or C$0.31 per share in the previous year.

Gold has dropped 2.1% as the precious metal dropped off its record highs. Iamgold (IMG.TO) and Seagold (SEA.TO) have dropped 4.25% and Yamana (YRI.TO) slipped 3.2%.

The Energy Index has dropped 1.4%. Encana (ECA.TO) declined 2.4% after the company reported third-quarter net earnings were US$25 million or US$0.03 per share, down from US$3.55 billion or US$4.73 per share in the same quarter last year.

In other corporate news, BCE (BCE.TO) has added 0.2% after the company reported third quarter net earnings applicable to common shares this quarter were C$558 million, or C$0.72 per share, compared to C$248 million, or C$0.31 per share last year.

Dejour Enterprises (DEJ.TO) dropped 2.4% after the company reported a net loss of C$2.5 million or C$0.03 per share for the third quarter, compared to a net loss of C$3 million or C$0.04 per share in the prior year quarter.

Niko Resources (NKO.TO) declined 3.8% after the company reported second quarter net income of US$45.04 million or US$0.90 per share, compared to a net loss of US$22.42 million or US$0.46 per share in the prior year.

Sino-Forest (TRE.TO) has climbed 0.9% after the company reported its third-quarter net income increased to US$105.62 million or US$0.47 per share from US$75.18 million or US$0.40 per share reported last year.

Corel Corp. (CRE.TO) has surged 12.25% as Vector Capital upped its offer to buy the remaining shares of Corel to US$4.00 per share.

Agrium (AGU.TO) announced it sent a letter to CF Industries Holdings (CF) stockholders, stating that Agrium has made its best and final offer worth $97.47 per CF share. The stock finished up 1.4%.

Tomorrow’s earnings calendar includes Equinox Minerals (EQN.TO), Groupe Aeroplan (AER.TO), Hemisphere GPS (HEM.TO), Uranium One (UUU.TO) and Vector Aerospace (RNO.TO).

On the economic front, new house prices in Canada rose prices rose 0.5% in September, according to Statistics Canada. Economists were looking for a more modest increase of 0.2%, following a 0.1% increase in August.

On Friday, Canadian merchandise export and import data for September is due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Exports are expected to fall 2.5%, compared to a 5.1% decline in August. Imports are projected to decline 3%, compared to a 2.8% drop last month.

The merchandise trade deficit is expected to narrow to $1.8 billion from $2 billion.

At the same time, Canadian motor vehicle sales for September are also due. Sales are expected to come in unchanged after a 0.3% drop last month.

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Posted in Categories: Canada, Releases, Stocks, USA.

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