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Canadian market opens week slightly down to snap win streak

Xinhua, December 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

Canada's main stock market in Toronto ended a run of six straight winning sessions on Monday, as declines in industrials and health care stocks outweighed gains from energy sector.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite faded 24.50 points, or 0.16 percent, to begin the week at 15,287.70 points. Six of the ten sub-sectors fell into negative territory on the session.

In the first hour of trading on Monday, the TSX extended its 19-month high as oil producers outside of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to decrease supply over the weekend. The index was unable to pick up momentum and gradually slid downwards to finish the day in the red.

Industrials and Health Care subgroups saw the biggest drops on the day, declining 1.50 percent and 1.01 percent respectively.

Industrials fell as railway companies Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway Limited tumbled 2.31 percent to 89.52 Canadian dollars (68.15 U.S. dollars) and 2.71 percent to 200.10 Canadian dollars (152.37 U.S. dollars), respectively.

Meanwhile, shares of Air Canada, the flag carrier of the country retreated 1.69 percent to 14.50 Canadian dollars (11.04 U.S. dollars).

Health care dipped as Quebec-based drugmakers Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. saw respective losses of 5.15 percent and 3.00 percent.

Other groups that lost ground on the day were Consumer Discretionary (0.39 percent), Financials (0.30 percent), Materials (0.17 percent) and Utilities (0.06 percent).

On a positive note, energy stocks benefited on the day from the weekend news from non-OPEC members and also news that Saudi Arabia would further reduce supply. Price of Brent peaked at its highest point since July 2015 before settling at 55.28 U.S. dollars a barrel for February delivery, an increase of 93 cents (1.71 percent) compared to Friday's closing rate.

As a result, six of the most traded stocks on the day were in the sector, with Alberta-based Baytex Energy Corp. topping the list with more than 12.7 million shares exchanged. Shares of the energy firm soared 9.50 percent to a four-month high of 7.03 Canadian dollars (5.35 U.S. dollars) after the firm announced the finalization of 115 million Canadian dollar (about 88 million U.S. dollars) through equity financing.

Energy firms MEG Energy Corp. and Husky Energy Inc also had strong days, surging 7.74 percent to 8.91 Canadian dollars (6.78 U.S. dollars) and 4.19 percent to 16.90 Canadian dollars (12.87 U.S. dollars), respectively.

Other groups to finish ahead on the day were Information Technology (1.01 percent), Telecommunications (0.46 percent), and Consumer Staples (0.12 percent).

The Canadian dollar climbed 0.0023 U.S. dollars to finish the day at an eight-week high of 0.7613 U.S. dollars. Endite