Off the wire
• U.S. wrap up Olympic warmups with win over Nigeria  • Canada announces new selection process for Supreme Court justices  • IMF calls on Morocco for more efforts to boost employment  • 1st LD: Suicide bomb attack in Libya's Benghazi kills at least 22  • Rwanda reaffirms commitment to providing clean water  • Nigerian military says dealing with threats by militants in Niger Delta  • Gold up on falling U.S. equities, weaker dollar  • 1st LD: Egypt's Nobel-laureate scientist Zuwail dies of illness in U.S.  • 44,000 women die in India while giving birth  • U.S. dollar declines on soft data  
You are here: 　 Home

Canadian stocks fall hard as energy weighs heavy

Xinhua, August 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

Canada's main stock market in Toronto suffered its biggest daily loss in over a month on Tuesday, with energy stocks slumping as fears of an oil supply glut haunted investors, while financials and health care stocks also weighed on market sentiment.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index lost 105.73 point, or 0.73 percent, to close at 14,477.01 points. All of the TSX index's eight main sub-sectors were lower.

Oil prices reversed early gains to end lower Tuesday, with the U.S. oil settling below 40 U.S. dollars a barrel for the first time since April, as concerns about a supply glut continued to weigh on the market.

The West Texas Intermediate for September delivery dipped 0.55 dollar to settle at 39.51 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for October delivery decreased 0.34 dollar to close at 41.80 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

TSX energy group retreated and the financials group slipped, echoing falls in Europe. The two sectors combined account for more than half the index's weight.

Energy stocks found their way downward, as Baytex Energy Corp. was hammered 41 cents, or 6.69 percent, to 5.72 Canadian dollars (4.37 U.S. dollars), and Encana Corporation fizzled 25 cents, or 2.38 percent, to 10.25 Canadian dollars.

Royal Bank of Canada fell 1.19 percent to 78.64 Canadian dollars, Toronto-Dominion Bank declined 1.23 percent to 56.19 Canadian dollars and Bank of Nova Scotia was off 0.97 percent at 65.67 Canadian dollars.

The worst losses were taken by health care stocks, down 3.67 percent as Valeant Pharmaceuticals plummeted 4.64 percent to 27.73 Canadian dollars. Its rival Concordia International Corp. was bruised 16.8 percent to 18.97 Canadian dollars.

Among metals and mining concerns, Teck Resources skidded 3.89 percent to 20.00 Canadian dollars, while Endeavour Mining collapsed 5.4 percent to 24.00 Canadian dollars.

Gold provided one of the few bright spots on the day, with Barrick Gold leaping 4.31 percent to 29.74 Canadian dollars, while Kinross Gold Corporation sprinted 7.11 percent to 7.23 Canadian dollars.

Markets in Canada were closed Monday for the Civic Holiday.

The Canadian dollar traded lower at 0.7632 U.S. dollar, compared with Friday's closing rate of 0.7659 U.S. dollar. Endit