Oct. 28, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) --

Canadian stocks may struggle to fight back from big losses in the previous session Wednesday morning as the steam appears to have run out of the bustling commodity trade due to signs the U.S. dollar is poised for a comeback. In the first hour of trading, the S&P/TSX composite index was down 106.73 points, or 1%, to 10,946.81. With banking stocks hitting the skids, the S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 181.34 points or 1.61% to close at 11,053.54. The market finished at its lowest level since October 2. Early signals are pointing to another difficult session. The price of oil is down a bit near $79 a barrel, suggesting that energy stocks may turn in lackluster performance. In earnings news, oil company Nexen said third-quarter profit plummeted on lower crude prices. Net income dropped to $122 million, or 23 cents a share, from $886 million, or $1.66, a year earlier. Canam Group Inc.'s third-quarter net earnings plummeted to $4.43 million or $0.10 per share from a restated $15.02 million or $0.30 per share in the prior-year period. OPTI Canada Inc. said its third-quarter net earnings was $12 million or $0.04 per share compared with a loss of $32 million or $0.16 per share in the prior-year period. Open Text Corp. reported first-quarter net income of $1.7 million U.S. or $0.03 U.S. per share, compared to $14.7 million U.S. or $0.28 U.S. per share in the same quarter last year. Kinross Gold will look to snap back after losing 6.8% yesterday when the company lowered its 2009 production expectations to 2.2 million gold ounces. The Canadian dollar was lower by 0.60 cents to 93.30 cents U.S. ON BAYSTREET All but one of the 14 TSX subgroups finished the day down. Metals and mining stocks were off 3.8%, while global base metals were down 2% and energy stocks were 1.6% less energetic. The sole gainer was in the health-care field, ahead 0.2%. The TSX Venture Exchange slid 15.70 points to 1,290.76, while the Nasdaq Canada index lost 10.20 points to 666.18. ON WALLSTREET In New York, stocks slipped Wednesday morning, with the Nasdaq sliding for the fourth straight session, as investors worried about the strength of the recovery ahead of Thursday's key GDP report. The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled out of the gate 19.95 points to 9,862.22. The S&P 500 index fell 6.16 points to 1,057.25. The Nasdaq composite index fell back 17.99 points to 2,089.10. Wall Street finished Tuesday's session mixed as the Nasdaq slumped and the Dow managed a small gain. Investors weighed a selloff in tech, a rally in energy and a surprise drop in consumer confidence. But stock investors Wednesday were also reacting to the published report that GMAC needs more federal money, he said. GMAC Financial Services is seeking a third round of bailout funds from the Treasury Department ranging from $2.8 billion to $5.6 billion U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal. The government reported Wednesday that orders for durable goods rose 1% in September, matching expectations from a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com. That compared to the prior month, when orders declined 2.6%. Investors are gearing up for Thursday's first reading on third-quarter GDP -- the broadest measure of the economy -- for signs of how strong the recovery may be. Economists are forecasting that gross domestic product grew at a 3.2% clip in the third quarter. That would end four consecutive quarters of the most severe economic decline since the Great Depression of the 1930s. But a weak consumer market could prevent a robust recovery. A report on new home sales comes out at 10 a.m. ET. A total of 440,000 units is expected as the annual rate of new home sales in September, according to Briefing.com consensus. Treasury prices continued upward, lowering the yields for the benchmark 10-year note to 3.43% from Tuesday's 3.45%. Prices and yields move in opposite directions. The price of a barrel of oil fell 89 cents to $78.68 U.S. Gold prices were up three dollars at $1,038 U.S. an ounce.