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Roundup: Canadian stock market loses ground amid mixed economic data

Xinhua, April 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Canada's main stock market lost ground Tuesday as gains from the financial sector was offset by a slump in resources amid mixed economic data.

Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 5.95 points, or 0.04 percent, to 14,902.44 points.

Resources shares led the decline after Statistics Canada said Tuesday that real gross domestic product (GDP) edged down 0.1 percent in January after a 0.3-percent increase in December.

Metals and miners sector shrank 2.94 percent, when Teck Resources Ltd. dived 10.64 percent to 17.38 Canadian dollars ( about 13.72 U.S. dollars) and Lundin Mining Corp. slumped 4.31 percent to 5.11 Canadian dollars as well per share.

The world's biggest gold producer Barrick lost 1.98 percent to 13.85 Canadian dollars on sluggish gold prices, when the bullion contract for June delivery lost 2.1 U.S. dollars to 1183.2 dollars per ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Energy also fell 0.22 percent as May crude oil contract declined 1.08 U.S. dollars to 47.60 dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, extending declined for a third straight trading day. In response, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. lost 0. 59 percent to 38.83 Canadian dollars.

Healthcare retreated 1.46 percent Tuesday after gaining 7.08 percent on Monday as the drug maker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. plummeted 2.52 percent to 250.21 Canadian dollars.

Statistics Canada reported Tuesday an upbeat jobs data, saying the number of non-farm payroll jobs rose by 48,100 in January, the eighth gain in nine months.

Financials, the most weighed sector, rallied 1.01 percent after the federal agency said that the finance and insurance sector was up 0.2 percent in January. Toronto-Dominion Bank climbed 1.71 percent to 54.21 Canadian dollars, and Manulife Financial Corp. also added 0.33 percent to 21.51 Canadian dollars per share.

Industrials rose 0.55 percent when the heavyweights Canadian National Railway Company rose 1.39 percent to 84.82 Canadian dollars, and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. advanced 0.44 percent to 231.90 Canadian dollars.

According to a report by Bank of Montreal on Tuesday, the soft economic data are consistent with the Canadian central bank's expectations for the oil-shock-related weakness to be more front- loaded. "The big question is whether the second quarter rebounds as the bank anticipates--that will likely be a key driver for monetary policy."

As for the currency, the Canadian dollar moved higher Tuesday to 0.7895 U.S. dollar, compared with 0.7878 U.S. dollar on Monday. Endite