IT and Energy sectors drag Canadian market lower

Canada's main market retreated from a two-week high on Tuesday, as losses in the Information Technology and Energy groups overshadowed a strong showing from Health Care stocks.

Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite fell 82.88 points, or 0.53 percent to close the session at 15,569.20 points. Seven of the ten sub-groups finished the trading day in negative territory.

The TSX Information Technology and Energy were the top laggard groups during the day, falling 1.36 percent and 1.11 percent, respectively.

Information Technology was dragged down by Waterloo-based Open Text Corporation, which posted lower than expected third quarter earnings after costs rose by more than 50 percent. Shares of the enterprise software developer slid 5.31 percent to 45.13 Canadian dollars (32.87 U.S. dollars).

Group members Constellation Software Inc and CGI Group also closed lower, finishing 0.92 percent and 0.58 percent lower. Not all firms finished lower, as Celestica Inc and Blackberry Limited softened the blow with respective gains of 1.11 percent and 0.78 percent.

After reeling off two consecutive sessions of sharp gains, energy sector retracted with crude oil prices. A barrel of Brent in London for July delivery fell 1.24 percent to 48.76 U.S. dollars.

Shares of Calgary-based energy firms Ensign Energy Services Inc and Bonavista Energy Corp were hit the hardest, dipping 4.60 percent and 4.01 percent, respectively. Suncor Energy Inc, the largest producer of crude oil in Canada, saw shares tick down 0.30 percent to 43.11 Canadian dollars (31.40 U.S. dollars).

The remaining groups to close Tuesday's session lower were: Financial (0.88 percent), Utilities (0.68 percent), Consumer Staples (0.44 percent), Telecommunications (0.23 percent), and Materials (0.02 percent).

The Financial group closed down despite alternative mortgage lending firm Home Capital Group Inc shares thriving after announcing plans to sell 1.5 billion Canadian dollars (about 1.09 billion U.S. dollars) worth of mortgages to an unknown party. Shares of the Toronto-based firm rocketed 29.72 percent to 8.86 Canadian dollars (6.45 U.S. dollars) and were the top-traded stock during the session with a volume in excess of 9.7 million.

The gains from Home Capital were not enough to put the group in positive territory, as all of the country's five largest banks finished in the red. No. 1 ranked Royal Bank of Canada retreated 1.32 percent, while No. 3 Bank of Nova Scotia closed 1.06 percent lower. Rounding out the list were Bank of Montreal (0.90 percent), Toronto-Dominion Bank (0.80 percent), and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (0.54 percent).

On a positive note, the TSX Health Care group shot up 5.50 percent on the day after Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc reported its first profitable quarter in the last six periods. Shares of the drugmaker spiked 24.10 percent to 16.58 Canadian dollars (12.08 U.S. dollars) and were the third most actively traded with volume exceeding 4.7 million shares.

The group was also boosted by long-term care firm Chartwell Retirement Residences and pharmaceutical firm ProMetic Life Sciences Inc, rising 1.84 percent and 0.50 percent, apiece.

The remaining groups to close ahead were Consumer Discretionary and Industrials, gaining 0.33 percent and 0.06 percent, respectively.

The Canadian dollar retreated 0.13 cent to close the day at 0.7284 U.S. dollars. Endit