The Toronto stock market closed lower Tuesday as buyers were discouraged by data showing falling American consumer confidence while waiting for hints of further stimulus from a speech by the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve on Friday.
However, the financial sector supplied some lift after Bank of Montreal and Scotiabank released quarterly earnings that beat expectations.
The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 38.92 points to 12,009.9 amid falling energy and mining stocks while the TSX Venture Exchange dipped 4.94 points to 1,241.88.
BMO shares gained 23¢ to $57.93 as the bank posted net income of $970 million or $1.42 per share, up 37% from a year ago.
On an adjusted basis, the bank's earnings were $1.49 per share, beating analyst expectations by 10¢. BMO also increased its dividend by 2¢ to 72¢ a share.
But Scotiabank's shares lost early momentum to move down 4¢ to $52.90 even as its quarterly net profits grew by 57% to $2.05 billion or $1.69 a share, while the bank's core EPS was $1.22 per share, 3¢ better than expectations. The bank also said it was also raising its quarterly dividend by 2¢, to 57¢ per share.
The Scotiabank results were helped by an after-tax gain of $614 million from the sale of its headquarters in Toronto's financial district.
The Canadian dollar rose US0.31¢ to US$1.0124.
New York indexes were mainly listless as a drop in consumer confidence competed with positive news from the housing sector.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 21.68 points to 13,102.99 as the Conference Board said that its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 60.6 from a revised 65.4 in July. Economists had expected a reading of 66. The index now stands at the lowest point since November 2011 when the reading was at 55.2.
The indicator is widely watched because consumer spending, including major purchases like health care, accounts for 70% of U.S. economic activity.
The Nasdaq composite index was 3.95 points higher at 3,077.14 and the S&P 500 index was down 1.14 points at 1,409.3.
The news was better on the housing front as Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index showed prices rose in June in all of the 20 American cities tracked.
The measure of national prices rose 2.3% in June from May, while home prices jumped nearly 7% in the April-June quarter from the previous quarter.
Traders also looked ahead to a speech Friday by U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke at the central bank's annual retreat at Jackson Hole, Wyo.
