TSX steady as financials offset fall in Catamaran, Goldcorp

By John Tilak

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index was little changed on Thursday as weakness in some healthcare and material stocks after weak earnings reports offset optimism following a move by the European Central Bank to cut interest rates.

The market was disappointed by results from Goldcorp Inc , Catamaran Corp and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc , but cheered Manulife Financial Corp's quarterly report.

The European Central Bank cut interest rates for the first time in 10 months, promising to provide as much liquidity as euro zone banks need well into next year and to help smaller companies get access to credit.

But investors were discouraged by data that showed manufacturing across the world stumbled last month, underlining the fragility of the global economy and building the case for more action by leading central banks.

The resource-sensitive Toronto index, whose growth is closely tied to the global economy, is down about 1 percent on the year, trailing its peers like the S&P 500 <.spx>.

Investors need to be selective about where they need to put their money, said Julie Brough, vice president at Morgan Meighen & Associates. "This is a stock picker's market; it's not an indexing market."

"To get the index aggressively moving upward again, you need some support from the resources," she added. "Right now we don't have the foundation for that."

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.gsptse> was down 7.56 points, or 0.06 percent, at 12,313.73.

Six of the 10 main sectors on the index were in the red.

The materials sector, which includes mining stocks, was down 0.6 percent.

Shares of Goldcorp fell 2 percent after the miner reported a 35 percent drop in first-quarter profit as lower metal prices and higher costs outweighed a boost in gold sales.

The healthcare group gave back 2.6 percent.

Catamaran tumbled 8.9 percent after the pharmacy benefit manager reported first-quarter results, playing the biggest role of any single stock in leading the market lower.

Valeant lost 1 percent after the drugmaker reported first-quarter results and said it would seek acquisitions in markets avoided by its stiffest competition.

Providing some support was Manulife, up 4 percent, after the insurer reported a 56 percent drop in first-quarter earnings but met market estimates.

That helped the financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, gain, 0.3 percent.

(Editing by Peter Galloway)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tsx-slips-resources-healthcare-stocks-weigh-135238952.html

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