Canadian stocks slip as crude fluctuates amid France attack

Canada's main stock market in Toronto fell Friday as oil prices seesawed on concerns that a persistent global glut of crude oil and refined products will impede any recovery amid a terrorist attack in France.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index shed 32.10 point, or 0.22 percent, to close at 14,482.42 points. Seven of the TSX index's eight main sub-sectors were lower.

Oil prices closed the week higher as data showed U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in June.

U.S. WTI light sweet crude for August delivery added 0.27 U.S. dollars to settle at 45.95 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery gained 0.24 U.S. dollars to close at 47.61 U.S. dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

However, TSX energy went down 0.58 percent as Suncor Energy Inc. fell 1.39 percent to 36.08 Canadian dollars (27.98 U.S. dollars) and Canadian Natural Resources dropped 0.17 percent to 41.36 Canadian dollars.

An attack in Nice, France that killed at least 84 people weighed on market sentiment and dragged down travel and leisure companies.

Base metals stocks proved the biggest albatross Friday, as First Quantum Minerals dived in price 69 cents, or 6.33 percent, to 10.21 Canadian dollars.

In the tech field, Sierra Wireless Inc. dropped 75 cents, or 3.22 percent, to 22.57 Canadian dollars, while BlackBerry dipped 0.23 percent to 8.58 Canadian dollars.

Gold stocks fell as Kinross Gold declined nine cents, or 1.29 percent, to 6.87 Canadian dollars, while Goldcorp ended the day off 13 cents to 24.96 Canadian dollars.

Bank stocks proved the only strong group, as Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce gained 0.49 percent to 98.49 Canadian dollars, while Toronto-Dominion Bank acquired 0.39 percent to 56.65 Canadian dollars.

Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported manufacturing sales declined 1.0 percent to 49.9 billion Canadian dollars in May, the third decrease in five months.

Moreover, the Canadian Real Estate Association reported national home sales fell 0.9 percent from May to June.

Actual (not seasonally-adjusted) activity came in 5.2 percent above June 2015. The number of newly listed homes rose 2.2 percent from May to June, it said.

The Canadian dollar traded lower at 0.7730 U.S. dollar, compared with Thursday's closing rate of 0.7753 U.S. dollar. Endit