Roger Biduk; Financials a Drag on Bay Street at Midday

Roger Biduk writes:

Bay Street was lower at midday with the financial sector weighing on the index.
Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index, up over 100 points in early trading, declined 49 points to 8,830.6 as the market was also pressured by energy stocks as oil prices reversed direction to head lower.
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 8.89 points to 853.19 while the Canadian dollar snapped a five-day losing streak rising 0.35 cent to 80.26 cents US. The loonie had fallen more than four cents on a stronger greenback and tumbling oil prices.

Toronto's financial sector slipped 2.23 per cent with TD Bank (TSX: TD.TO) down $1.55 to $42.50 and Scotiabank (TSX: BNS.TO) declined $1.42 to $29.94.

The energy sector was flat as oil prices headed higher after almost touching the US$33 level Thursday. The February crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped 91 cents to US$34.49 a barrel and EnCana Corp. (TSX: ECA.TO) fell 59 cents to $56.11 while Petro-Canada (TSX: PCA.TO) improved 51 cents to $29.64.

Roger Biduk:
The base metals sector was one of the few positive sectors, up 1.5 per cent with March copper ahead 6.15 cents to US$1.515 a pound as Sherritt International (TSX: S.TO) moved ahead eight cents to $3.65 and FNX Mining Co. (TSX: FM.TO) advanced 21 cents to $3.66.
Agrium Inc. (TSX: AGU.TO) shares were $1.42 higher to $41.32 after it said it expects to take a US$115-million writedown on its retail operations due to "unprecedented volatility" in global markets in yet another blow to the fertilizer industry.

Shares in Onex Corp. (TSX: OCX.TO) were down 40 cents to $18.35 after it said it has raised US$3 billion of capital for its private equity fund, Onex Partners III LP, but also warned it has temporarily halved its commitment to the fund due to the uncertain investing environment. The conglomerate will now commit $500 million to the fund, down from $1 billion on "a temporary basis," it said in a release.
New Flyer Industries Inc. (TSX: NFI-UN.TO) units were 14 cents higher to $9.02 after the Winnipeg-based manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses said it ended 2008 with an order backlog of US$4.1 billion, up from $2.8 billion at the start of the year.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 2.6 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged 0.1 per cent higher.
Britain's FTSE 100 gained 1.55 per cent, Germany's DAX rose 1.4 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 index rose 0.55 per cent.

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