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Canadian stocks edge down over Q1 growth data

Xinhua, June 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

Canada's main stock market in Toronto fluctuated to close lower Tuesday as higher commodities supported energy and mining stocks while data showed the country's gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2016 grew at a pace slightly slower than expected.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index shed 20.89 point, or 0.15 percent, to close at 14,065.78 points. Half of the TSX index's eight main sub-sectors were lower.

The TSX index rose to a new 9-month high in early trading before falling back. The index touched its highest level since Aug. 19, having rallied more than 22 percent from an almost three-and-a-half-year low in January.

Oil prices traded mixed on Tuesday. The West Texas Intermediate for July delivery lost 23 cents to settle at 49.10 U.S. dollars a barrel, while Brent crude for July delivery increased 37 cent to close at 49.69 dollars a barrel.

TSX energy sector was up 1.07 percent, the mining group was up 0.65 percent, but financials and health care stocks were down 0.97 percent and 3.07 percent respectively.

The biggest movers on the index included Canadian Natural Resources, which rose 1.12 percent to 38.97 Canadian dollars (29.73 U.S. dollars), and Encana Corporation, which advanced 4.73 percent to 10.41 Canadian dollars.

Barrick Gold Corporation climbed 1.72 percent to 21.92 Canadian dollars, while Yamana Gold Inc. was up 3.75 percent at 5.53 Canadian dollars, among gold concerns.

Among a listless clutch of financial stocks, Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) reported second-quarter results below market expectations and increased funds set aside to cover bad loans by 40 percent as lending to energy companies turned sour.

Scotiabank shares fell 1.25 percent to 64.14 Canadian dollars.

On the economic front, Statistics Canada said the country's economy grew 0.6 percent during the first quarter of this year thanks to rising exports and investment in housing, following up on a 0.1 percent hike in the last quarter of 2015.

Expressed at an annualized rate, real GDP rose 2.4 percent in the first quarter, slightly slower than what economists were expecting. By comparison, real GDP in the United States grew 0.8 percent.

However, GDP decreased 0.2 percent in March, after edging down 0.1 percent in February. The decline in March came primarily from mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction and retail trade.

The Canadian dollar traded lower at 0.7628 U.S. dollar, compared with Monday's closing rate of 0.7662 U.S. dollar. Endit