Canadian shares retreated as weakness in the three most heavily weighted sectors -- banks, oil, and mining -- continued to weigh on the market.
The resource-heavy benchmark Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) slipped 0.5 percent to 14,310.54 at 12:57 p.m. Two shares declined for every issue that advanced as half of the ten share groups were in the negative territory. The gauge has lost 2.2 percent so far this year.
The energy sector, the main index's second most heavily weighted group, tumbled 1.2 percent as oil, Canada’s largest export, fell. Enbridge (TSE:ENB), Canada's largest pipeline company, sagged 2.7 percent to C$56.09. Suncor Energy (TSE:SU), Canada's largest oil sands producer, inched up 0.2 percent to C$33.40.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery traded at $50.36 a barrel, down 1 percent. It was trading at $49.98 before the supply data. September Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell 0.5 percent to $56.76 a barrel.
The materials sub-index, which includes mining shares, fell 0.8 percent, as gold prices were on track for their 10th straight day of losses. Goldcorp (TSE:G), Canada’s largest gold miner by market value, added 1.1 percent to C$17.25. Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX), the second-largest, declined 0.3 percent to C$9.66.
Gold for August delivery, the most actively traded contract, was recently down 1.5 percent at $1,086.90 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, lost 0.5 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY), which has the heaviest weighting in the index, inched down 0.8 percent to C$76.02. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD), the second-largest bank by market value, slid 0.3 percent to C$52.28.
Canadian Pacific Railway (TSE:CP), the nation's second-largest rail operator, fluctuated and was last down 0.6 percent at $79.14. The company’s chairman Gary Colter and another director stepped down from the railroad operator’s board yesterday, which the company attributed to the recent handling of another board director’s resignation. The surprise news was delivered alongside largely in line second-quarter results and downgraded outlook for the year. Cannacord Genuity raised Canadian Pacific to buy from hold.
BlackBerry (TSE:BB) slipped 0.5 percent to C$10.10. The smartphone maker agreed to buy AtHoc, a secure communications provider. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Canfor (TSE:CFP) tumbled 6.1 percent to C$25.93. The integrated forest products company reported earnings of C$11.1 million for the second quarter, down 80 percent from the same period the year before.
Canfor Pulp Products (TSE:CFX) retreated 1.8 percent to C$15.24. The supplier of pulp and paper products reported net income of C$17.7 million for the second quarter, down nearly 6 percent from the same period the year before.
West Fraser Timber (TSE:WFT) sank 6.1 percent to C$62.55. The lumber producer earned C$14 million in the second quarter, down 84 percent from a year earlier. Sales declined slightly from a year earlier.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (CVE:OSPVX) lost 0.9 percent to 608.96 at 12:42 p.m. in Toronto.
In economic news, the finance department said today that the Canadian government had a budget surplus in the first two months of the fiscal year on increased revenues and gains from the sale of the government's holdings in General Motors. The surplus in April was C$2.54 billion, compared to a deficit of C$1.41 billion in April 2014, while May's surplus was C$1.40 billion, up from C$267 million the year before. For the 2015-16 fiscal year that started in April, the government had a surplus of C$3.95 billion.
In the U.S. market, shares declined in late morning trading after disappointing results from technology giants including Apple. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) skidded 0.3 percent to 2,114.16 at 12:05 p.m. in Toronto. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) decreased 0.4 percent to 17,843.49, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) sank 0.7 percent to 5,169.41. Most followed shares also included Microsoft, Yahoo, GoPro, Coca-Cola, Campbell Soup, Tupperware Brands, AT&T, Boeing, and Thoratec.