Oct. 23, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) --

The Toronto stock market was firmly negative mid-morning Friday as oil prices retreated and investors took in mixed earnings reports from Canada and the United States As noon approached, the S&P/TSX Composite index had slid 111.39 points to 11,421.98. The Canadian dollar was down a day after Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney said the sharply higher currency is putting a brake on the country's economy recovery. And he made it clear that "intervention is always an option" to control the rise of the loonie, which came within about 2.5 cents of regaining parity with the U.S. dollar a week ago. The TSX energy sector slipped as the December crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell. Crude prices had shot up more than 3% earlier this week to a one-year high on optimism that an economic recovery is taking root. EnCana Corp. lost 67 cents to $64.20. The base metals group was ahead as the December copper contract in New York rose four cents to $3.03 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources gained 46 cents to $35.57. TSX weakness was led by the tech sector, as shares in electronics manufacturer Celestica Inc. declined 49 cents to $9.16 as the firm generated a small third-quarter loss, reversing a year-earlier profit, as revenues took a hit from the recession and the company booked higher restructuring costs from earlier job cuts. Other earnings reports included an advance warning from fertilizer company Agrium Inc. which said it expects third-quarter earnings will be 90 to 95% below what they were a year ago when the full report is issued on Nov. 4. Agrium attributes the decline to lower prices and margins for all three categories of fertilizer that it produces. Its shares fell $2.23 to $57.50. Shaw Communications Inc. shares fell 37 cents to $20.22 as it said net income was $124 million or 29 cents a share for the three months ended Aug. 31, down 6.3% from $132.3 million or 31 cents a year earlier. Annual net income was $535.2 million, down 20.3% from $671.6 million in fiscal 2008. The Canadian dollar dropped 0.36 cents to 95.08 cents U.S. ON BAYSTREET All but three of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower. Information technology lost 2.1% of its strength, followed by energy, off 1.6%, and industrials, down 1.2%. The three gainers were metals and mining, up 0.8%, gold, ahead 0.5%, while global base metals advanced 0.5%. The TSX Venture Exchange nipped up 0.42 points to 1,334.61, while the Nasdaq Canada index fell back 10.66 points to 703.77. ON WALLSTREET In New York, stocks on Friday turned solidly lower, with profit-taking and declining oil prices leading energy shares lower, offsetting cheer that came after Microsoft Corp. reported results topping expectations. The Dow Jones Industrials jettisoned 76.33 points to 10,004.98. The S&P 500 index stepped back 9.55 points to 1,083.36.