Canadian shares wavered as consumer and health-care shares retreated overpowering a rebound in commodity prices that helped drive up shares of energy and mining companies.
The resource-sensitive Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) fell 0.3 percent to 14,386.39 at 12:35 p.m. in Toronto. Three shares advanced for every two issues that declined as seven out of ten share groups were in the positive territory.
The energy sector, the main index's second most heavily weighted group, rose 1 percent as oil, Canada’s largest export, staged a rebound. Suncor Energy (TSE:SU), Canada's largest oil sands producer, lost 1 percent to C$33.53. Enbridge (TSE:ENB), Canada's largest pipeline company, fell 1 percent to $57.67.
Innergex Renewable Energy (TSE:INE) slipped 0.3 percent. The operator of renewable power-generating facilities agreed to sell C$100 million of convertible debentures.
August crude traded at $50.75 a barrel, up 1.2 percent on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The materials sub-index, which includes mining shares, rose 2.1 percent as gold prices hovered near five-year lows.
Goldcorp (TSE:G), Canada’s largest gold miner by market value, added 3.2 percent to $17.28. Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX), the second-largest, added 3.0 percent to C$9.87.
The most actively traded gold contract, for August delivery, was recently down 0.1 percent at $1,105.70 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, lost 0.2 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY), which has the heaviest weighting in the index, fell 0.6 percent to C$76.68. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD), the second-largest bank by market value, sank 0.5 percent to C$52.43.
Canadian National Railway (TSE:CNR) rose 1.2 percent to $79.00 after the Montreal, Quebec-based railroad reported second-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates after shedding jobs and benefiting from lower fuel costs.
Canadian Pacific Railway (TSE:CP) fell 5.8 percent to C$194.31 after the nation's second-largest rail operator cut its full-year earnings and revenue guidance.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (CVE:OSPVX) was little changed at 616.71 at 12:49 p.m. in Toronto.
In economic news, the country's parliamentary budget watchdog said today that Canada's federal finances are in a solid long-term position but the provincial and municipal government picture is far less rosy.
In the U.S. market, shares retreated on weak results from IBM, Verizon, United Technologies and other companies. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) slipped 0.4 percent to 2,120.41 at 11:46 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) dropped 1.1 percent to 17,907.80, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) slipped 0.2 percent to 5,206.24. Most followed shares also included Qualcomm, Lexmark International, Harley-Davidson, Tesla Motors, Bank of New York Mellon, Chesapeake Energy, and Steel Dynamics.