Energy, Financial stocks send Canadian market lower

Canada's main stock market slipped one day after recording its biggest single-day gain in over six weeks, as declines in Energy and Financial sectors weighed down the index during Tuesday' s session.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite retreated 62.32 points, or 0.40 percent to finish the session at 15,622.57 points. Seven of the ten sub-groups ended the day lower.

The Energy group took the biggest hit on the day, dipping 0.91 percent after the spot price of crude oil and natural gas both took a step back.

A barrel of Brent for June delivery fell 0.52 percent to 55.07 U.S. dollars a barrel, while May natural gas futures on the on the New York Mercantile Exchange faded 0.38 percent to 3.150 U.S. dollars per million British thermal units.

Calgary-based Cenovus Energy Inc was the top traded stock with volume exceeding 6.6 million stocks fell 1.31 percent to settle at 14.31 Canadian dollars (10.69 U.S dollars).

Energy Corp and Canadian Natural Resources Limited also made noise, slipping 2.00 percent and 1.58 percent, respectively.

The heavyweight TSX Financial Group, which accounts for the largest weight by sector in the index, dropped 0.48 percent one day after the country's largest banks and insurance firms posted gains or more than one percent.

Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank, the country's two largest banks by market capitalization posted losses of 0.51 percent and 0.41 percent, each. Meanwhile, No. 3 ranked Bank of Nova Scotia was hit the hardest with a 0.69 percent dip to close at 76.61 Canadian dollars (57.25 U.S. dollars) a share.

Manulife Financial Corporation, the largest insurance firm in Canada faded 0.61 percent to close at 22.89 Canadian dollars (17.11 U.S. dollars), while rival Sun Life Financial Inc closed 0.57 percent lower to settle at 46.95 Canadian dollars (35.09 U.S. dollars).

The remaining laggard groups on the day were: Health Care (0.69 percent), Materials (0.45 percent), Utilities (0.32 percent), Consumer Staples (0.28 percent), and Telecommunications (0.27 percent).

The Materials group, which is made up of producers of gold, precious metals, and raw materials, closed down despite the price of gold closing at a five-month high. The spot price of gold rose 0.40 percent to finish the day at 1,289.20 U.S. dollars an ounce, its highest end of day rate since Nov. 7.

Toronto-based IAMGOLD and Detour Gold Corporation were the standouts in the group, posting gains of 1.53 percent and 1.34 percent, a piece. Meanwhile, Barrick Gold, the world's largest producer of bullion ticked down 0.08 percent to 26.37 Canadian dollars (19.71 U.S. dollars) a share.

The group was hampered by the other two key metals: silver and copper. The spot price of silver slipped 0.71 percent to 18.25 U.S. dollars an ounce, while copper dipped 2.19 percent to 2.518 U.S. dollars a pound.

Vancouver-based Trevali Mining Corporation, who producers zinc and silver, saw shares plunge 6.78 percent to 1.10 Canadian dollars (0.82 U.S. dollars). Meanwhile, copper miners Ivanhoe Mines Ltd and Lundin Mining Corporation shares dipped 5.12 percent and 4.83 percent, each.

The news was not all bad on the day, as three groups managed to finish the session slightly higher. The TSX Industrials group ticked up 0.10 percent, while the Consumer Discretionary and Information Technology sectors inched higher by 0.09 percent and 0.08 percent, respectively.

The Canadian dollar retreated 0.37 cents to end the session at 0.7473 U.S. dollars. Endite