Stocks Level Off After Recent Gains -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks were lower Thursday amid profit taking after a rally toward record highs.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 29 points to 15,614.

The Capped Telecommunication Services Index was up 1.7 percent.

Rogers Communication (RCI-B.TO) led the way after its fourth quarter EPS rose to C$0.74 from C$0.64 last year.

On the economic front, German consumer confidence is set to strengthen further in February on high employment and income growth, survey results from the market research group GfK showed Thursday. The forward-looking consumer sentiment index rose more-than-expected to 10.2 in February from 9.9 in January. The score was forecast to climb to 10.0.

The U.K. economy continued its buoyant growth in the fourth quarter on consumer spending, weathering the uncertainties stemming from the "Brexit" vote.

Gross domestic product grew 0.6 percent sequentially in the fourth quarter, the same pace of growth as seen in the previous two quarters, preliminary estimate from the Office for National Statistics showed Thursday. Economists had forecast a slightly slower 0.5 percent growth.

U.K. retail sales declined unexpectedly in January but the volume is expected to increase next month, the Distributive Trades Survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed Thursday.

After reporting an unexpected drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a rebound in initial jobless claims in the week ended January 21st.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 259,000, an increase of 22,000 from the previous week's revised level of 237,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 247,000 from the 234,000 originally reported for the previous week.

New home sales in the U.S. saw a sharp pullback in the month of December, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday.

The Commerce Department said new home sales tumbled by 10.4 percent to an annual rate of 536,000 in December after jumping by 4.7 percent to a revised rate of 598,000 in November.

Economists had expected new home sales to edge down to a rate of 588,000 from the 592,000 originally reported for the previous month.