Roundup: Canadian stock market lower amid dim business outlook

Canada's main stock market in Toronto started the week with a further slump Monday as the country's central bank suggested a tough year for investment outlook when the fall in energy prices spreads wider.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index shed 126.20 points, or 1.01 percent, to close at 12,319.25 points. Five of the TSX index's eight main sectors ended lower.

Metals and mining sector recorded a sharp drop of 7.50 percent as commodities prices went much lower. Vancouver-based B2Gold Corp. lost 10.45 percent to 1.20 Canadian dollars a share. Barrick Gold Corporation shed 2.68 percent to 11.60 dollars a share.

Energy stocks retreated 3.95 percent after crude oil prices plummeted Monday as markets expected uncertainties in global demand. Calgary-based Baytex Energy Corp. fell 13.66 percent to 3.16 Canadian dollars a share.

TSX's financial companies, with a heavy share of over 38 percent as of Monday's market value, increased a mild 0.06 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank went up 0.67 percent and Royal Bank of Canada up 0.49 percent.

The fallout from the commodities price collapse is now spreading far beyond the oil patch, souring the mood of Canadian businesses and derailing their plans to hire and invest. The Bank of Canada's closely watched quarterly business outlook survey, released Monday, shows hiring and investment plans at their lowest levels since the aftermath of the last recession in 2009.

"The negative effects of the oil price shock are increasingly spreading beyond the energy-producing regions and sectors," the bank said in the survey, adding that weak commodity prices "poses significant challenges for many businesses."

The survey's interviews were conducted between mid-November and early December. Oil prices have since slid even further, with the benchmark West Texas Intermediate below 32 U.S. dollars a barrel on Monday, and the Canadian dollar is flirting with 70 U.S. cents.

Canadian oil fared even worse, with a barrel of the oil blend from Alberta's oilsands known as Western Canada Select trading at under 17 U.S. dollars per barrel, its lowest level on record.

"Sentiment on the Prairies deteriorated further, but weakening investment intentions are now evident in other regions as well," TD Economics' Leslie Preston noted. "Plans to cut staff are more widespread and not confined to the commodity-producing sectors and regions. It does not paint a very positive picture about hiring or investment over the next 12 months."

The Canadian housing market also showed signs of cooling in December, with housing starts coming in lower than expected despite warm weather and a solid pace throughout 2015. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Monday the annual pace of housing starts fell sharply to 172,965 in December compared with an upwardly revised 212,028 units in November.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Bill Morneau is heading off on a six-day cross-country consultation trip to ask Canadians what they want to see in the upcoming federal budget, the first for the new Liberal government.

The meetings will be a mix of traditional closed-door sessions with stakeholder groups, ranging from manufacturing to cultural organizations, plus a couple of public events in each location where people will get a chance to offer their opinions directly to the federal minister.

The Canadian dollar was traded lower at 0.7031 U.S. dollar, compared with Friday's closing at 0.7068 U.S. dollar. Enditem