Canadian Stocks Are Falling Despite Rising Commodities - Canadian Commentary

RTTNews
Jul. 18, 2017, 10:51 AM

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is losing ground in early trade Tuesday. The bulk of the Canadian sectors are trading in the red this morning, with the notable exceptions of the energy and gold sectors, as commodity prices climb. Healthcare and industrial stocks are among the weakest performers.

Markets in Europe are under pressure Tuesday, after the Euro reached a 14-month high against the U.S. dollar. Some mixed earnings results are also weighing on investor sentiment.

Markets in the United States got off to a weak start Tuesday, but have since inched back near unchanged levels. Traders continue to exercise caution ahead of the release of earnings results from a number of big name companies this week.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 58.81 points or 0.39 percent at 15,106.55.

On Monday, the index closed down 9.45 points or 0.06 percent, at 15,165.36. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,209.29 and a low of 15,155.43.

The Capped Healthcare Index is lower by 1.29 percent. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX.TO) is weakening by 2.77 percent and Concordia International (CXR.TO) is down 0.49 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index is down 0.71 percent. Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is lower by 0.75 percent and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is falling 1.43 percent. Bombardier (BBD-B.TO) is declining 0.85 percent and Finning International (FTT.TO) is losing 0.87 percent.

The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is down 0.61 percent. Rogers Communications (RCI-B.TO) is losing 0.73 percent and TELUS (T.TO) is decreasing 0.60 percent. BCE (BCE.TO) is falling 0.52 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index is decreasing 0.46 percent. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is weakening by 0.54 percent and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is surrendering 0.40 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is falling 0.37 percent and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is down 0.32 percent. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is declining 0.11 percent and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is lower by 0.52 percent.

The Capped Information Technology Index is losing 0.16 percent. BlackBerry (BB.TO) is falling 0.55 percent and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) is weakening by 0.41 percent. Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) is dropping 1.51 percent.

The Capped Materials Index is down 0.19 percent. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is weakening by 0.02 percent and Agrium (AGU.TO) is losing 1.10 percent. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT.TO) is also lower by 1.02 percent.

The Gold Index is advancing 0.50 percent. Gold prices continue to inch higher Tuesday morning.

B2Gold (BTO.TO) is gaining 1.15 percent and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is advancing 0.59 percent. Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is up 1.29 percent and Kinross Gold (K.TO) is climbing 0.49 percent. IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is rising 0.46 percent and Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is adding 0.96 percent. Goldcorp (G.TO) is also increasing 0.30 percent.

The Energy Index is rising 0.25 percent. Crude oil prices are slightly higher Tuesday despite signs that OPEC is struggling to maintain cooperation with its supply quota plan. Ecuador will no longer comply with an agreed OPEC production cut due to the country's financial difficulties, it was announced last night.

Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is gaining 0.03 percent and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is climbing 0.54 percent. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is up 0.11 percent and Husky Energy (HSE.TO) is increasing 0.50 percent. Encana (ECA.TO) is advancing 1.01 percent.

On the economic front, German economic sentiment deteriorated more than expected in July, survey data from the Mannheim-based Centre for European Economic Research/ZEW revealed Tuesday. The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment fell to 17.5 in July from 18.6 in June. The score was forecast to drop to 18.0.

UK inflation slowed to a three-month low and factory gate inflation skid to its weakest level in six months in June, defying calls for an immediate interest rate hike.

Consumer prices advanced 2.6 percent year-on-year in June, following a 2.9 percent rise in May, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday. Inflation was expected to remain unchanged at a nearly four-year high of 2.9 percent.

British house price inflation eased in May after accelerating in the previous month, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday. The house price index climbed 4.7 percent year-over-year in May, slower than the 5.3 percent rise in April, which was revised down from a 5.6 percent increase reported earlier.

With fuel prices seeing another steep decline, the Labor Department released a report on Tuesday showing that U.S. import prices fell in line with economist estimates in the month of June.

The Labor Department said import prices dropped by 0.2 percent in June after edging down by a revised 0.1 percent in May.

Economists had expected import prices to fall by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.3 percent decrease originally reported for the previous month.

The report said export prices also fell by 0.2 percent in June after slumping by 0.5 percent in May. Export prices had been expected to come in unchanged.

Homebuilder confidence in the U.S. unexpectedly declined in the month of July, according to a report released by the National Association of Home Builders on Tuesday. The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index dropped to 64 in July from a revised 66 in June. Economists had expected the index to hold at the 67 originally reported for the previous month.

In commodities, crude oil futures for August delivery are up 0.47 or 1.02 percent at $46.49 a barrel.

Natural gas for August is up 0.062 or 2.05 percent at $3.082 per million btu.

Gold futures for August are up 6.60 or 0.54 percent at $1,240.30 an ounce.

Silver for September is up 0.131 or 0.81 percent at $16.23 an ounce.

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