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Canadian stock market ends flat amid expectations for U.S. Fed's interest rate hike

Xinhua, June 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Canada's main stock market in Toronto on Tuesday closed flat ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's announcement as investors are looking for clues about the timing of an interest-rate hike.

Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index inched lower 3 points, or 0.02 percent, to 14,753.05 points.

Seven of the eight major sectors little changed when investors were waiting for Fed's announcement which will be released Wednesday. And the announcement is expected to give clues about the timing of an interest-rate rise.

Analysts believed that the U.S. central bank is unlikely to raise rates in the coming announcements. A report issued by TD Bank Tuesday, however, said U.S. Fed is inching closer to a rate hike which may come as early as September.

Financials, the sector which is sensitive to the changes of interest rates, little changed with a small gain of 0.16 percent. Royal Bank of Canada added 0.36 percent to 78.52 Canadian dollars (about 63.77 U.S. dollars) while Manulife Financial Corp. was higher 0.38 percent to 23.73 Canadian dollars per share.

Energy strengthened 0.72 percent when crude oil was gaining some momentum Tuesday. The oil and gas companies Encana jumped 2. 33 percent to 14.95 Canadian dollars and Suncor Energy Inc. rose 0. 73 percent to 34.49 Canadian dollars.

However, the gains were offset after metals and mining suffered the biggest losses by 1.01 percent, the fourth decrease in a row, when its heavyweight Teck Resources Ltd. lost 1.89 percent to 13. 47 Canadian dollars one share and the world's biggest gold producer Barrick shrank 2.69 percent to 13.77 Canadian dollars a share.

Other losers included Industrials and Info Tech, down 0.44 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday that foreign investors purchased Canadian securities for a fourth straight month in April, adding 12.9 billion Canadian dollars to their holdings. Meanwhile, Canadian investment in foreign securities resumed with acquisitions totaling 6.6 billion Canadian dollars in the month, mainly non-U.S. foreign securities.

On the currency front, the Canadian dollar rebounded slightly higher to 0.8122 U.S. dollar Tuesday, from 0.8119 U.S. dollar Monday, when the greenback was modestly weaker against the major currencies. Endite