Canadian shares dropped for a third day as U.S. economic data disappointed investors. The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) fell 0.4 percent to 14,978.29 at 12:33 p.m. in Toronto. Eight out of ten share groups were in the negative territory.
Sales at U.S. retailers were flat in April. Excluding automobile sales, buying increased by a paltry 0.1 percent, the Commerce Department said, falling short of the 0.4 percent forecast. Prices paid in the U.S. for imported goods fell by 0.3 percent, while prices for U.S.-made exports declined by 0.7 percent in April. Sentiment in Canada is often influenced by news out of the United States, Canada's largest trading partner.
The energy sector, the main index's second most heavily weighted group, slipped 0.5 percent as oil, Canada’s largest export, rose. Suncor Energy (TSE:SU), Canada's largest oil sands producer, edged up 0.1 percent to C$36.49. Enbridge (TSE:ENB), Canada's largest pipeline company, sank 0.9 percent to C$61.05.
Encana (TSE:ECA), Canada’s largest natural gas producer, fell 3.5 percent to C$16.08 after RBC Capital Markets cut its rating on the company to sector perform from outperform, citing “higher potential returns elsewhere.” The oil and gas company reported a hefty first-quarter loss yesterday.
Trican Well Service (TSE:TCW), an oilfield-services company, slumped 11 percent to C$4.49 after saying it has suspended its dividend due to a weak economic outlook and the need to preserve liquidity.
Brent for June was up 93 cents at $67.79 a barrel. U.S. crude was up 35 cents at $61.10.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, fell 0.2 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY), which has the heaviest weighting in the index, skidded 0.2 percent to C$78.55. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD), the second-largest bank by market value, dipped 0.3 percent to C$55.20.
Raw-material shares advanced 1.2 percent as gold rose two percent to above $1,200 an ounce. Goldcorp (TSE:G), Canada’s largest gold miner by market value, added 3 percent to C$23.41. Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX), the second-largest, jumped 3.3 percent to C$15.92.
Spot gold hit a five-week high of $1,218 an ounce and was last trading up 2 percent at $1,216.40. U.S. gold futures for June delivery traded 2 percent higher at $1,216.10 an ounce.
ShawCor (TSE:SCL), which provides coatings and other services to the pipeline industry, fell 4.4 percent to C$38.11. The company said its first-quarter profit fell to C$0.58 per share from C$1.03 a year earlier and revenue dipped 2 percent, hurt by a pullback in North American oilfield activity.
Magellan Aerospace (TSE:MAL) advanced 4.7 percent to C$14.44 after saying first-quarter earnings rose 59% to C$19.2 million, or 33 Canadian cents a share.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (CVE:OSPVX) was little changed at 691.70 at 12:31 p.m. in Toronto.
In economic news, Canadian home prices rose in April from a month earlier, the fourth straight monthly increase, but the pace of the gains was slower than in March and the hot markets of Toronto and Vancouver were flat, the Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index showed today.
In the U.S. market, shares pared opening gains after a report on monthly retail sales came in weaker than expected. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) inched up 0.1 percent to 2,102 at 11:44 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) was up 0.1 percent at 18,077, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) gained 0.2 percent to 4,987. Most followed shares included Macy’s, Delta, Zillow, AmEx, HortonWorks, Zebra, GoDaddy, Danaher, Pall, Vertex, Orexigen, Williams Partners, and Owens-Illinois.