Canadian shares fell for a second day in relatively quiet trading today with lower crude prices nudging down energy stocks and last-ditch talk efforts between Greece and its creditors to avoid a debt default dominating investor focus.
The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) fell 0.4 percent to 14,832.07 at 12:39 p.m. in Toronto. Two shares declined for every issue that advanced as six out of ten share groups were in the negative territory.
The energy sector, the main index's second most heavily weighted group, fell 0.7 percent as oil, Canada’s largest export, eased back on concerns about oversupply.
Suncor Energy (TSE:SU), Canada's largest oil sands producer, slipped 0.1 percent to C$34.54. Enbridge (TSE:ENB), Canada's largest pipeline company, declined 1.7 percent to C$58.85.
The benchmark U.S. oil contract declined 1 percent at $59.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The global Brent contract fell 0.6 percent at $62.85 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.
The materials sub-index, which includes mining shares, retreated 0.8 percent as gold slid to three-week lows.
Goldcorp (TSE:G), Canada’s largest gold miner by market value, edged down 0.2 percent to C$20.40. Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX), the second-largest, surrendered 0.3 percent to C$13.53.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (TSE:POT) dropped 2.3 percent to $38.41. The company has offered to buy German rival K+S AG for roughly EUR7.8 billion, although K+S is expected to reject the offer as too low.
Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,171.55 an ounce, while U.S. gold futures for August delivery were down 60 cents an ounce at $1,171.20.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, inched up 0.1 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY), which has the heaviest weighting in the index, advanced 0.3 percent to C$78.39. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD), the second-largest bank by market value, gained 0.4 percent to C$54.41.
Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO), the fourth-biggest lender, rose 0.3 percent to C$7.5.88 after it agreed to sell its U.S. retirement services business, BMO Retirement Services, to OneAmerica.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (TSE:VRX) slipped 1 percent to $284.79 as the Canada-based drugmaker approached to buy Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS), an animal-health company, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (CVE:OSPVX) was little changed at 679.67 at 12:33 p.m. in Toronto.
In the U.S. market, shares advanced today as investors were encouraged by signals of a possible deal between Greece and its creditors that could help the country avert a debt default. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) inched up 0.1 percent to 2,103.75 at 11:54 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) added 0.5 percent to 17,976.43, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) slipped 0.5 percent to 5,089.39. Most followed shares included Celladon, UnitedHealth, Micron Technology, JD.com, KLA-Tencor, Nike, Lululemon Athletica, TransUnion, and Potash.