Stocks dip into red by noon

Toronto's main stock index faded into the red Wednesday midday, amid hopes that Greece is close to arriving at a deal that will see it get a crucial second bailout to stave off bankruptcy

The S&P TSX Composite Index approached noon down 31.83 points to 12,480.59, after a positive start.

The Canadian dollar slipped 0.40 cents to 100.15 cents U.S.

Agrium Inc. rose 0.7% after the fertilizer producer reported a 43% gain in its quarterly earnings. TMX Group Inc., which is in the middle of a takeover battle, dunked 0.4% after reporting a 21% slide in its quarter earnings.

Notable gainers include Suncor Energy, up 0.03% to $34.61, Lundin Mining, up 1.4% to $5.19, and WestJet Airlines, soaring 3.5% to $13.56.

Stocks that lost ground included EnCana Corp., off 2.5% to $19.33, and Teck Resources, sliding 1.7% to $40.88.

On matters economic, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation told us this morning that housing starts decreased by 1.0% in January to an annualized pace of 197,900 versus expectation of a larger drop to 194,000.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 3.95 points to 1,659.38, while the Nasdaq Canada index dipped 1.53 points to 423.35

In all, nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups had given up territory by noon. Materials fell 0.7%, while energy stocks and the metals and mining group each tripped 0.6%.

The four gainers were led by health-care stocks, up 0.5%, consumer discretionaries, inching up 0.2% and industrials, eking up 0.1%. Utilities were flat at noon.

ON WALLSTREET

In New York, stocks drifted lower midday Wednesday as investors remain focused on Greece, where political leaders continue to debate austerity measures needed to secure bailout funds.

The Dow Jones Industrials faded 37.69 points by noon at 12,840.50.

The S&P 500 surrendered 4.47 points to 1,342.58, while the tech-rich Nasdaq slumped 5.16 points to 2,898.92

Bank of America and JPMorgan led gainers on the Dow. But the index was weighed down by shares of Merck and Cisco

Investors continued to tune in to quarterly corporate results on Wednesday.

Sprint Nextel reported a steep loss for the fourth quarter, shedding $1.3 billion U.S., or 43 cents U.S. per share, which was even worse than its year-earlier loss of $929 million U.S., or 31 cents U.S. per share. The company blamed the sales expense from its launch of the iPhone.

Time Warner beat expectations on earnings and revenue. The media company reported fourth-quarter adjusted net income of $946 million U.S., or 94 cents U.S. per share, an increase from the prior-year figure of $754 million U.S., of 65 cents U.S. per share.

Time Warner also raised its dividend by 11% and announced a four-billion-share buyback.

CVS Caremark said that its revenue jumped 11% to a record $107 billion U.S. and its adjusted earnings rose 6% to $2.80 U.S. per share.

Buffalo Wild Wings said its same-store sales jumped 9% in the fourth quarter, contributing to a 35% revenue boost, to $220 million U.S., and a 34% surge in net earnings, to $13.6 million U.S.

Western Union reported an increase in fourth-quarter revenue of 5% to $1.4 billion U.S. The 160-year-old money-sending company said that earnings rose 40 cents U.S. excluding a tax benefit, compared to 37 cents U.S. in the year-earlier quarter.

Polo Ralph Lauren reported its most recent quarterly earnings, showing a 12% surge in same-store sales and a 17% jump in revenue to $1.8 billion U.S. compared to the year-earlier quarter.

Following the market's close, daily deals site Groupon is on tap to make its first quarterly report as a public company. Dow component Cisco Systems is also slated to report in the afternoon, as are News Corp. and Visa

Late Tuesday, Yahoo announced that four longtime board members, including the chairman, are leaving the company. The departures stemmed from board discussions about "why Yahoo! was not meeting either our own expectations or those of our shareholders," wrote Chairman Roy Bostock in a letter announcing the shakeup -- including his own departure.

Also, Caesars Entertainment, a casino entertainment provider, will start trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq, after raising $16 million U.S. through an initial public offering.

Investors will continue to look for news out of Greece, where leaders are hammering out the details of an austerity package. The package is necessary for the country to receive a €130-billion bailout from the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.

Without these funds, Greece could miss a €14.5-billion bond redemption in March.

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos has distributed a final draft of the austerity program to members of his governing coalition. The party leaders are set to meet Wednesday to finalize the measures.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank is reportedly willing to participate in a restructuring of Greek debt, although the bank will not suffer a loss on its holdings. Greece is also expected to announce an agreement with private sector investors on a writedown and debt swap.

On the economic front, the U.S. Energy Information Administration revealed that U.S. oil inventories last week rose 300,000 barrels, while an indirect measure of oil demand fell 0.5%.

Gasoline inventories grew 1.6 million barrels, while stockpiles of distillates, including heating oil and diesel, climbed 1.2 million barrels.

Treasury prices for the 10-year note progressed once again, lowering yields to Tuesday's 1.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil for February delivery grew 24 cents to $98.65 U.S. a barrel.

Gold futures for April delivery fell $2 to $1,746.40 U.S. an ounce.