Industrials, Financials drag Canadian market down

 Canada's main stock market in Toronto closed lower on Tuesday, as declines in Industrial and Financial stocks outpaced gold prices reaching a two-month high.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite fell 37.93 points, or 0.25 percent, to end the day at 15,441.36 points. Six of the ten sub-sectors finished the session in negative territory.

Industrials and Financials groups had the biggest impact on the day, falling 1.08 percent and 0.69 percent, respectively.

Industrials group ended lower despite Montreal-based Bombardier shares rising 4.96 percent to 2.75 Canadian dollars (2.11 U.S. dollars). The group was dragged down by railway firms Canadian Pacific Railway Limited and Canadian National Railway Company, which saw respective declines of 2.18 percent and 1.67 percent. Also contributing was shares of Air Canada, the country's largest airline firm, which faded 1.81 percent to close at 13.56 Canadian dollars (10.38 U.S. dollars).

The TSX Financials Group declined as shares of Canada's five largest banks finished lower. No. 2 ranked Toronto-Dominion Bank shares slipped 0.94 percent, while No. 3 ranked Bank of Nova Scotia fell 0.87 percent. Meanwhile, Manulife Financial Corporation, the largest insurance firm in the country, retreated 0.95 percent to close at 24.07 Canadian dollars (18.43 U.S. dollars) a share.

Other laggard groups on Tuesday were: Consumer Discretionary (0.30 percent), Telecommunications (0.20 percent), Health Care (0.11 percent), and Information Technology (0.09 percent).

Groups finishing ahead on the day were Consumer Staples (0.49 percent), Utilities (0.40 percent), Energy (0.38 percent), and Materials (0.15 percent).

Energy group moved up as despite crude oil prices finishing slightly lower. Price of Brent delivered in March finished 26 cents lower at 55.45 U.S. dollars a barrel. Calgary-based Encana Corporation shares closed the session at 17.45 Canadian dollars (13.36 U.S. dollars), a 1.69 percent gain.

The TSX Materials group, which consists of producers of gold, precious metals, and raw materials, finished slightly higher as spot price of gold closed at its highest mark since Nov. 17. The price of the precious metal continued to rally, gaining 1.17 percent on the day to close at 1,216.70 U.S. dollars an ounce. Since Dec. 22, the price of bullion is up 7.65 percent.

As a result of the gain, shares of Toronto-based Kinross Gold Corporation shares surged 5.82 percent to 4.73 Canadian dollars (3.62 U.S. dollars). Meanwhile, Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc. shares rose 3.24 percent to 19.77 Canadian dollars (15.14 U.S. dollars) after providing details of their growth plan which forecasts a 20 percent increase in production over the next five years.

Price of silver also moved forward, rising 2.44 percent to 17.18 U.S. dollars an ounce. While the price of copper slipped 1.85 percent to close at 2.5982 U.S. dollars per pound.

The Canadian dollar jumped 0.74 cents to a four-month high of 0.7658 U.S. dollars..

source: Xinhua