text: TSX loses more than 300 points | Toronto Star
  TSX loses more than 300 points
  A sell-off in the financial sector pushed the Toronto stock market's key index down by more than 300 points Thursday while sentiment against commodity stocks overshadowed strong earnings reports from the likes of market heavies EnCana Corp. (TSX: ECA ) and Potash Corp. (TSX: POT ).
  TORONTO – A sell-off in the financial sector pushed the Toronto stock market's key index down by more than 300 points Thursday while sentiment against commodity stocks overshadowed strong earnings reports from the likes of market heavies EnCana Corp. (TSX: ECA) and Potash Corp. (TSX: POT).
  New York indexes were also sharply lower amid mixed corporate results, a dismal housing report and another sell-off of financial stocks.
  Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index tumbled 306.52 points to 13,206.14, while New York's Dow Jones industrial average fell 283.1 points to 11,349.28.
  EnCana shares inched up 27 cents to $73.41 after a 30 per cent surge in second-quarter revenue to $7.32 billion, although net income declined 14 per cent to $1.22 billion due to hedging losses.
  PotashCorp shares lost $5.38 to $196.85 after the world's biggest producer of crop nutrients had its best-ever quarterly earnings of $905.1 million, up by 220 per cent from a year ago.
  The TSX Venture Exchange declined 38.36 points to 2,184.77 while the Canadian dollar moved down 0.29 of a cent to 98.69 cents US.
  The Nasdaq composite index retreated 45.77 points to 2,280.11.
  The S&P 500 index was off 29.65 points to 1,252.54.
  The Toronto financials sector had racked up an impressive series of gains since last week's parade of much better than expected quarterly results from American banks. But nervous investors cashed in profits Thursday.
  "I think there is an interpretation by some that because the bank earnings weren't as horrific as expected – they were still terrible – but because they were not as devastating as expected, that that is somehow an indication that the credit markets are improving," said Gareth Watson, Associate Director, Canadian equity adviser at ScotiaMcLeod.
  "You want to talk about the credit markets, see a turn in the U.S. housing market first. Let's remember why we had a credit crunch in the first place."
  TD Bank (TSX: TD) dropped $3.18 to $60.04 and Scotiabank (TSX: BNS) fell $2.17 to $48.16.
  In New York, Washington Mutual Inc. fell 69 cents, or 14.84 per cent, to US$3.96, as concerns persisted about the company's mortgage portfolio while No. 1 bank Citigroup retreated $2.03 or 9.6 per cent to US$19.09.
  A reminder of the dreadful state of the U.S. housing sector came in a report from the National Association of Realtors that housing sales fell by 2.6 per cent in June, well below the one per cent drop that economists had forecast. The median price fell by about six per cent.
  The TSX energy sector moved down 0.87 per cent, giving up early gains after data out mid-morning showed a bigger-than-expected rise in natural gas inventories, a day after another report showed a much higher-than-anticipated buildup of gasoline stocks in the U.S.
  The September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange added $1.05 to US$125.49 a barrel after falling just short of $4 on Wednesday.
  "There obviously was a form of demand destruction," Watson said.
  "We went from US$100 to US$140 in three months on oil. And I say, did anything – supply-wise – change in those three months? Did anything demand-wise change? The answer is no."
  Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX: SU) said high oil prices pushed its second-quarter earnings to $829 million, up from $738 million a year ago despite higher operating costs and lower oil sands production. Its shares lost 74 cents to $52.91.
  Profit surged 77 per cent for Petro-Canada (TSX: PCA), as the integrated oil company reported April-June net income of just under $1.5 billion. Its shares slipped 56 cents to $46.04.
  Ford Motor Co. lost US$8.67 billion in the second quarter and said it will retool two more North American truck and sport utility vehicle plants to focus on smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles. The loss includes $8.03 billion worth of writeoffs because of a decline in value of North American assets and Ford's leases. Ford shares fell 91 cents or 15.1 per cent to US$5.12.
  The report helped send General Motors Corp. shares down $1.60 or 10.95 per cent to US$13.01.
  On a more positive note, Amazon.com reported second-quarter earnings that more than doubled to US$158 million and surpassed analysts' expectations. The Internet retailer also raised its full-year revenue projections and its shares ran ahead $8.18 or 11.6 per cent to US$78.72.
  Kinross Gold Corp. (TSX: K) and Aurelian Resources Inc. (TSX: ARU) announced an agreement for Kinross to take over Aurelian in a deal valued at $1.2 billion. The all-stock transaction, giving Kinross the Fruta del Norte deposit in Ecuador, is valued at $8.20 per Aurelian share, a premium of about 60 per cent. Aurelian shares soared $1.86 to $6.31 while Kinross faded $2.14 to $18.70.
  On the TSX, declines beat advances 999 to 533 with 236 unchanged as 455 million shares traded worth $10.9 billions.