TORONTO -- The Toronto stock market closed little changed amid well-received earning reports from Royal Bank (TSX:RY) and a couple of big retailers.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 0.4 of a point to 14,188.58 while the Canadian dollar dropped 0.34 of a cent to 89.86 cents US.
Royal Bank's quarterly net income was up two per cent to just over $2 billion dollars as the bank beat earnings forecasts and upped its dividend. Its shares slipped 61 cents to $72.09 but RBC stock has already charged ahead 5.5 per cent this month.
Wall Street was mixed as sales of new homes in the U.S. rebounded in January to the fastest pace in more than five years
That came as a surprise to economists, who had been forecasting a sales drop because of tough weather conditions.
The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 18.75 points to 16,198.41, the Nasdaq was up 4.47 points to 4,292.06, while the S&P 500 index added 0.04 a point to 1,845.16.
