Canadian stocks end down as energy dips

Canadian's main stock market ended down Tuesday for a second straight session as losses in energy outweighed gains in gold.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index dropped 55.96 points, or 0.37 percent, closing the day at 14,867.05 points. Nine of the 10 sub-sectors in the index were in the negative on the day.

Rallying to 52.58 U.S. dollars for a barrel of Brent three weeks ago, crude oil prices have failed to pick up momentum ever since. On Tuesday, Brent crude for December delivery fell 1.71 percent to 50.64 dollars a barrel in London.

As a result, the energy sector was hit the hardest during the day, falling 1.63 percent. Calgary-based Encana Corporation shares fell 3.94 percent to 13.88 Canadian dollars (10.40 dollars), while energy giant Suncor Energy Inc. retreated 0.84 percent to 39.00 Canadian dollars (29.21 dollars).

Consumer Discretionary and Consumer Staples sub-sectors also lost ground, falling 1.03 percent and 0.81 percent respectively.

TSX Information Technology group dropped 1.02 percent despite Blackberry Limited releasing its latest Android-based smart phone that is priced cheaper than similar phones made by competitors. Shares of the Waterloo-based company opened ahead but ended the session at 9.72 Canadian dollars (7.28 dollars), a 1.02 percent decline.

After soaring 29.39 percent over a five-day period, Canopy Growth Corporation shares fell 8.66 percent to 5.91 Canadian dollars (4.43 dollars) as Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada's largest pharmacy chain, had formally applied to distribute medical marijuana. The Smith Falls-based Canopy is Canada's largest producer and seller of legal marijuana.

As the other sectors fell, gold raced ahead with a 0.70 percent gain to 1273.60 dollars for an ounce of bullion in December. The Materials sector, which features miners of gold and other metals soared 1.84 percent on the day.

Shares of Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold miner rose 2.17 percent to 22.82 Canadian dollars (17.09 dollars) after a report indicated discussions took place between Barrick and Chinese mining companies of a potential sale of one of its mines in Argentina.

According to the report, China's Zijin Mining Group and Shandong Gold Mining had the intention of buying up to half of Barrick's Veladero mines for more than 1 billion U.S. dollars.

Other gold miners also thrived, as Vancouver-based B2Gold Corp. soared 8.03 percent, while Toronto-based IAMGOLD Corporation rose 4.73 percent.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.0012 to end the day at 0.7491 dollars. Endi