(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) Canadian shares wavered as gains in financial stocks outstripped declines among miners which were hurt as resource prices softened on weak Chinese trade data.
The benchmark Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) was up less than 0.1 percent at 15394 at 12:31 p.m. in Toronto. Four out of ten shares groups were in the positive territory.
Financials the index's most heavily weighted sector gained 0.2 percent. () which has the heaviest weighting in the index gained 0.5 percent to C$79.97.
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD) the second-largest bank by market value was little changed at C$55.31.
The materials sub-index which includes mining shares fell 0.3 percent as gold dropped for a fourth session in five today. (TSE:G) Canada’s largest gold miner by market value skidded 0.1 percent to C$24.27. (TSE:ABX) the second-largest surrendered 1.6 percent to C$15.69.
() gained 5.8 percent to C$7.84 and (TSE:AUQ) advanced 6.6 percent to C$4.03. The two Canada-based gold miners agreed to merge creating a gold producer with a combined market capitalization of around $1.5 billion and key producing projects in mining-friendly jurisdictions in Canada and Mexico.
Spot gold slipped almost 1 percent to a session low of $1197.10 an ounce before reclaiming some lost ground to $1201.60 down 0.5 percent by 9:51 a.m.
The energy sector the main index's second most heavily weighted group was down 0.1 percent as oil prices wavered. Energy (TSE:SU) Canada's largest oil sands producer slipped 0.6 percent to C$39.46.
Limited () Canada’s second-largest energy producer slid 0.5 percent to C$40.45.
() a provider of seismic data to the energy sector fell 5.5 percent to C$2.76 after saying its first-quarter loss doubled to 6 Canadian cents per share from 3 Canadian cents and revenue fell to C$4.5 million from C$5.5 million.
West Texas Intermediate for May delivery recently traded up 2 cents to $51.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after falling as low as $51.52 a barrel. Brent the global benchmark fell 0.2 percent to $57.73 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. Oil seesawed as traders weighed signs of rising U.S. oil inventories against expectations that the nation’s crude-oil production is set to slow.
(TSE:MSL) sank 7.3 percent to C$3.04 after saying it has agreed to sell 19.7 million shares at C$3.05 each to raise about C$60 million.
The junior () inched down 0.5 percent to 695.32 at 12:09 p.m. in Toronto.
In currency the Canadian dollar climbed against its most major counterparts in New York deals.
In the U.S. market shares rose as investors awaited the rollout of earnings from large banks and shrugged off disappointing trade reports from China that suggested weakening global growth. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) gained 0.2 percent to 2105 at 11:43 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) added 0.2 percent to 18088 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) gained 0.5 percent to 5020. Most followed shares included Qualcomm Holdings Wal-Mart Builders FirstSource UnitedHealth Group and .
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.