Canadian shares traded lower today as worried increased that Greece may not reach a deal with creditors and as investors shrugged off stronger-than-expected earnings from three of the country's biggest lenders
The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) fell 0.4 percent to 15,057.80 at 12:30 p.m. in Toronto. More than two shares declined for every issue that advanced as all of the ten share groups were in the negative territory.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, skidded 0.6 percent.
Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) fell 0.9 percent to C$79.20, erasing an earlier gain, even as the largest Canadian lender posted a 14 percent rise in its fiscal second-quarter. The bank retained its quarterly payout at C$0.77 per share.
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD) fell 0.9 percent to C$55.48 after saying fiscal second-quarter profit fell 6.5 percent as the Canada’s second-largest lender took a C$228 million restructuring charge. The bank left its dividend unchanged at C$0.51 per share.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSE:CM) inched down 0.2 percent to C$94.88, reversing an earlier increase, even as it said profit nearly tripled in the second quarter.
The energy sector, the main index's second most heavily weighted group, lost 0.8 percent as crude dropped.
Suncor Energy (TSE:SU), Canada's largest oil sands producer, slumped 0.8 percent to C$36.04. Enbridge (TSE:ENB), Canada's largest pipeline company, was little changed at C$60.36.
Teck Resources (TSE:TCK.B), Canada’s largest diversified mining company by market value, wavered between gains and losses at C$14.94. The company said it plans temporary shutdowns at its six Canadian steelmaking coal operations in the third quarter due to challenging coal market conditions. Each operation will be shut down for about three weeks, it said, which will reduce production in the quarter by about 22 percent.
U.S. crude was down $0.57 from its last settlement at $56.94 per barrel.
Raw-material shares were little changed as gold traded flat. Goldcorp (TSE:G), Canada’s largest gold miner by market value, edged up 0.2 percent to C$21.95. Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX), the second-largest, gained 1 percent to C$14.72.
Heroux-Devtek (TSE:HRX) rose 0.9 percent to C$10.00 as the aerospace-products maker reported earnings improved to C$0.21 per share from C$0.19 per share.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (CVE:OSPVX) was flat at 690.67 at 12:14 p.m. in Toronto.
In economic news, Canada's current account deficit widened again in the first quarter to C$17.47 billion after narrowing in the first three quarters of 2014, data from Statistics Canada showed today. The widening of the deficit over the last two quarters was mainly due to trade in goods, particularly energy products.
In the U.S. market, shares pulled back today as investors grappled with comments from Federal Reserve officials about the possibility of raising interest rates this year. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) skidded 0.3 percent to 2,118 at 11:36 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) slipped 0.3 percent to 18,105, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) slipped 0.2 percent to 5,094. Most followed shares included Broadcom, Avago, Yahoo, Western Digital, GoPro, Semtech, Palo Alto, Abercrombie & Fitch, Costco, Express, and GM.
Sentiment in Canada is often influenced by news out of the United States, Canada's largest trading partner.