The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market sustained a sharp triple-digit loss Tuesday as investors took profits for a third straight day amid mixed earnings results and disappointing American consumer data.

The S&P/TSX composite index tumbled 181.34 points to 11,053.54, led by declines in mining, financial and industrial stocks.

The showing added up to a loss of 480 points or 4.16% over three sessions. But with the TSX still up almost 50% from the lows of early March, analysts weren’t surprised to see some retracement.

“After this big rally, profit-taking is normal, to be expected,” said Paul Vaillancourt, director of asset allocation at Franklin Templeton Managed Solutions, adding that the markets are, from a technical point of view, in a confirmed uptrend.

“Our strategy is to buy the weakness and we will be doing so. I think there’s a lot of cash on the sidelines that will be doing the same thing and interestingly, all these dips in the last six months we’ve seen have been bought up because there’s a lot of people adding money to the market on weakness.”

The Canadian dollar was up 0.08 of a cent to US93.8¢ after a stronger greenback pushed the loonie down about 1.3¢ on Monday.

The financials sector was the biggest TSX decliner, down 3.14% as TD Bank (TSX:TD) lost $2.32 to $62.17 as online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. — 40% owned by TD — said Tuesday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell 9% as its expenses rose while low interest rates limited its revenue growth. Royal Bank (TSX:RY) stepped back $1.96 to $53.70.

The market found limited support from the telecom sector following better-than-expected earnings from Rogers Communications (TSX:RCI.B).

Rogers shares were up $1.56 to $30.46 after the telecom company reported quarterly net income of $485 million, compared with year-earlier earnings of $495 million. After adjustments, net income totalled $505 million or 82¢ a share, up from 73¢ a year earlier and well above analyst expectations of 54¢ per share. Revenue at the wireless division was up 7%, fuelled by growth in postpaid subscriptions attributed to the popularity of the Apple iPhone.

The industrials sector fell more than two per. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (TSX:CP) shares came under pressure even as the railway reported that its third-quarter net income rose to $195.4 million or $1.16¢ a share from $170.7 million or $1.10¢ a share a year ago despite a decline in revenue to under $1.1 billion from over $1.3 billion. The results beat expectations but Canadian Pacific shares still fell $2.41 to $46.32.

The TSX base metals sector declined three% as December copper drifted 0.12 of a cent lower at US$3 a pound. Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) lost $1 to $33.06.

The December bullion contract on the Nymex declined US$7.40 to US$1,035.40 an ounce, sending the gold sector down 1.04%. Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) faded 83¢ to $40.12.

The energy sector was down 0.49% even as the December crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 87¢ to US$79.55 a barrel. Suncor Inc. (TSX:SU) fell 60¢ to $37.01.

The TSX Venture Exchange rose 3.23 points to 1,309.18.

New York indexes were mainly lower as investors balanced positive news from the housing sector with an unexpected slip in consumer confidence during October.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 14.21 points to 9,882.17 as the U.S. Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index sank to 47.7 in October — its second-lowest recording since May and well below the expected reading of 53.1.

A reading above 90 means the economy is on solid footing.

Worries about consumers have been around for a while, but they took some of the sheen off U.S. corporate profit reports for the July-September quarter, which have been largely coming in ahead of expectations.

“Both the current conditions and expectations components fell, with most of the weakness coming from the latter, which doesn’t bode well for consumer spending as it was dragged lower by employment prospects than income,” observed BMO Capital Markets senior economist Jennifer Lee.

The Nasdaq composite index slipped 25.76 points to 2,116.09 while the S&P 500 index lost 3.54 points to 1,063.41.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major cities rose one% from July to a seasonally adjusted reading of 144.5.

While prices are down 11.4% from August a year ago, the annual declines have slowed since February.

In other corporate news, utility TransAlta Corp. (TSX:TA) said net income rose to $66 million or 34¢ per share in the third quarter, up from $62 million or 31¢ per share in the year-earlier period. Revenue fell to $666 million from $791 million and its shares were off eight¢ to $20.97.

@page_break@Kinross Gold Corp. (TSX:K) shares were down $1.35 to $20.30 as the company cut its production guidance for 2009 due to lower than expected results from its operations in Brazil due to continuing problems at its Paracatu mine.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (TSX:LLL) shares jumped $2.43 or 8.87% to $29.82 after the athletic clothing retailer raised its earnings guidance for its third quarter due to better than expected sales.