Royal Bank and Allison Mendes

Toronto exchange: At the close, the S&P/TSX index faded 23.17 points at 12,740.27, dragged down by metals and financials sectors, according to The Toronto Star. The Toronto exchange was hurt by disappointing results from Royal Bank, which reported that its net income for its last quarter was flat at $2.45 billion as it was affected by declining oil prices. Equity markets started the day deep in negative territory but recouped most of those losses by midday. Allison Mendes, a senior portfolio manager, said that Royal Bank results weren’t surprising because no bank is immune to eroding crude values, adding that the upside is that the banks will likely emerge barely scathed. The Canadian dollar was up 0.43 of a cent to 73.06 cents . There seemed to be more positive sentiment in New York, with the major indexes there rebounding from earlier lows. Without a doubt, these Canadian banks are going to weather the storm but it still rough trading in the interim, said Mendes, who works at Manulife Asset Management. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.