Canadian stock market dives over selloff of resources shares

Canada's main stock market extended its losses Friday for the third straight day due to sharp selloffs in resource shares triggered by oil and gold slump.
Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 177.74 points, or 1.19 percent, to 14,744.70 points, as six of the eight major sectors lost ground.
Crude oil prices collapsed after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided Thursday not to cut its output. Light, sweet crude for January delivery moved down 7.54 dollars to settle at 66.15 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Analysts believed that there will not be any meaningful rebound of the oil market before the end of this year as a higher U.S. dollar, lower demand and over supplied output would weigh on crude prices.
The sluggish gold price was another key factor to the slump of resources shares in TSX. The most actively traded contract for February delivery fell 1.8 percent or 22 U.S. dollars to close at 1,175.50 U.S. dollars per ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement price hit a two-week low since Nov. 13, when prices closed at 1,161.50 U.S. dollars an ounce.
Metals and mining slumped 5.09 percent, leading the fall among TSX sectors, as the world's largest gold miner Barrick lost 5.31 percent to 13.54 Canadian dollars (about 11.84 U.S. dollars), while copper giant Teck Resources Ltd. also dived 6.17 percent to 17.64 Canadian dollars.
The energy sector declined 2.26 percent when Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. shed 1.27 percent to 37.96 Canadian dollars, and Suncor Energy Inc. lost 2.03 percent to 36.11 Canadian dollars.
Info tech plunged 0.31 percent as Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd. dropped 0.34 percent to 11.85 Canadian dollars.
However, telecom and utilities, up 0.19 percent and 0.59 percent, were the only gainers in TSX.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that real gross domestic product rose 0.7 percent in the third quarter, following a 0.9 percent gain in the second quarter. At an annualized rate, real GDP expanded 2.8 percent in the third quarter.
Currency-wise, Canadian dollars went down Friday to 0.8741 U.S. dollar from 0.8825 U.S. dollar Thursday, as the greenback moved forward against major currencies amid weak oil prices.