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Roundup: Canadian stock market inches higher amid oil plunge, rate cut concern

Xinhua, February 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Canada's main stock market in Toronto eked out a slight gain on Tuesday amid a slump in resources stocks, and investors'concern about another interest rate cut by Canada's central bank.

Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 11.82 points, or 0.08 percent, to 15,112.52 points.

The index was weighed in the midday trading by a slide in oil prices, as light, sweet crude for March delivery lost 2.84 U.S. dollars to settle at 50.02 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after the International Energy Agency predicted that the oil inventories will increase.

Resources shares leading the TSX losers, when the energy sector lost 2.47 percent while the metals and mining sector dived 3.52 percent.

Canada's biggest oil and gas company Suncor Energy Inc. dropped 2.24 percent to 28.42 Canadian dollars (about 22.60 U.S. dollars), while the basic metals giant Teck Resources Ltd. plummeted 4.35 percent to 17.81 Canadian dollars.

However, TSX stayed in the green at the closing bell on Tuesday when non-resources stocks moved higher.

Info-tech was the biggest gainer by 2.21 percent. CGI Group Inc. climbed 3.09 percent to 53.13 Canadian dollars and Open Text Corp. rose 1.63 percent to 74.15 Canadian dollars.

Healthcare added 1.76 percent as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. surged 3.73 percent to 206.81 Canadian dollars, and Catamaran Corp. advanced 1.01 percent to 66.21 Canadian dollars.

In other gainers, industrials and utilities jumped 0.82 percent and 0.42 percent, respectively.

Bank of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins said on Tuesday that the sharp drop in oil prices is a setback, but the central bank also emphasized that the economy still has room to grow.

Finance Minister Joe Oliver said on Monday that he is optimistic about the prospect of the Canadian economy in spite of the oil plunge.

But analysts believed that if the oil plunge continues, the central bank may resort to the monetary policy for risk hedging by another interest rate cut, following the rate cut on Jan. 21.

As a direct response, on the currency front, the Canadian dollar on Tuesday plunged to 0.7953 U.S. dollar from 0.8022 U.S. dollar. Endite