Canadian stocks lose ground amid falling commodity prices

Canada's main stock market in Toronto fell weak on Monday to start the week amid falling oil and metals prices and a report that U.S. manufacturing output fell in February.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index lost 104.29 points, or 0.78 percent, to close at 13,336.15 points. Seven of the TSX index's eight main sub-sectors were lower.

Oil prices plunged Monday as Saudi Arabia said it would freeze its oil output only after other producers agree to do the same. The West Texas Intermediate for May delivery moved down 1.09 U.S. dollars to settle at 35.7 dollars a barrel, while Brent crude for June delivery decreased 98 cents to close at 37.69 dollars a barrel.

Leading the decline, TSX energy and mining groups were down 1.70 percent and 4.56 percent respectively. Pacific Exploration & Production Corporation lost 32.65 percent to 0.99 Canadian dollar (0.76 U.S. dollar) a share, while Caza Oil & Gas Inc. slumped 33.33 percent to 0.01 Canadian dollar.

Among miners, Claude Resources Inc. was down 3.03 percent to 1.28 Canadian dollars, First Quantum Minerals Ltd. was off 5.87 percent to 6.41 Canadian dollars, while Teck Resources shed 5.45 percent to 9.55 Canadian dollars.

The most influential movers on the index included Brookfield Asset Management, which fell 4.79 percent to 42.91 Canadian dollars, and BlackBerry, which lost 2.36 percent to 9.51 Canadian dollars, extending losses from Friday after disappointing results.

Barrick Gold declined 0.79 percent to 17.64 Canadian dollars and Goldcorp Inc. lost 0.81 percent to 20.76 Canadian dollars, as gold fell after strong U.S. economic data boosted risk appetite, while uncertainty continued about the Federal Reserve's interest rate path.

Copper touched its lowest in a month and nickel slipped to its lowest in six weeks on persisting concern over Chinese growth and metals demand.

Royal Bank of Canada, one of the financial institutions mentioned in the massive leak of Panama documents revealing the use of offshore tax havens by individuals including heads of state, superstar athletes and billionaires, says it has a rigorous process in place to prevent illegal client activity.

"RBC works within the legal and regulatory framework of every country in which we operate," the bank's spokeswoman Tanis Feasby said in an e-mail Monday. RBC shares was down 0.45 percent to 74.76 Canadian dollars.

The commodity-sensitive Canadian dollar was also lower for a third consecutive session. The loonie traded lower at 0.7650 U.S. dollar, compared with Friday's closing rate of 0.7684 U.S. dollar. Enditem