Canadian shares wavered as a rise in consumer shares outstripped a slump in commodities producers. The benchmark Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) added 0.1 percent to 14,487.72 at 12:41 p.m. in Toronto. Three shares declined for every two issues that advanced as five out of ten share groups were in the positive territory.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, rose 0.20 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY), which has the heaviest weighting in the index, gained 0.6 percent to C$76.74. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD), the second-largest bank by market value, gained 0.4 percent to C$52.98.
The energy sector, the main index's second most heavily weighted group, fell 1 percent even as oil prices bounced higher. Suncor Energy (TSE:SU), Canada's largest oil sands producer, skidded 0.7 percent to C$36.57. Canadian Natural Resources Limited (TSE:CNQ), Canada’s second-largest energy producer, gained 1 percent to C$32.25.
Ensign Energy Services (TSE:ESI), which provides oilfield services, fell 1.6 percent to C$9.97 after swinging to a second-quarter loss of 1 Canadian cent a share from a profit of C$0.10 per year earlier. The energy-services company’s revenue fell 35 percent.
Brent-crude futures traded on London’s ICE Futures exchange pared earlier gains but remained up 1.3 percent at $50.14 a barrel. September West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange added 2.1 percent to $46.11 a barrel.
The materials sub-index, which includes mining shares, lost 0.9 percent even as gold rose today. Goldcorp (TSE:G), Canada’s largest gold miner by market value, advanced 1.3 percent to C$17.68. Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX), the second-largest, sank 3.1 percent to C$8.96.
First Quantum Minerals (TSE:FM) fell 5.7 percent to C$9.86. The copper miner halted production at its Sentinel copper mine in Zambia after the state power company slashed power supplies due to a nationwide shortfall. The move will result in the loss of nearly 1,500 jobs.
Spot gold was up 0.5 percent at $1,091.06 an ounce, but still not far above the $1,077 it hit on July 24, its weakest level since February 2010.
Cipher Pharmaceuticals (TSE:CPH) added 6.3 percent to C$11.30 after saying its submission for Dermadexin to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been accepted for review. Dermadexin is a topical cream for seborrheic dermatitis, an inflammatory skin disorder.
Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSE:ATD.B) rose 2.3 percent to C$59.73. The largest public convenience-store operator in North America said it has agreed to sell its lubricants business in Europe to Germany’s Fuchs Petrolub SE (OTCMKTS:FUPEF) or an undisclosed amount.
Second Cup (TSE:SCU), a Canadian coffee-shop franchisor, was flat at C$3.40 after posting a second-quarter loss of C$0.01 per share, compared with a loss of C$0.04 a year earlier. The coffee chain said its system-wide same-store sales fell 3.2 percent.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (CVE:OSPVX) fell 0.3 percent to 592.40 at 12:28 p.m. in Toronto.
In economic news, business conditions in the Canadian manufacturing sector continued to improve for the second month in a row in July, but at a slower pace than June, with an increase in export sales supporting the recovery. The RBC Canadian Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' index (PMI), a measure of manufacturing business conditions released today, slid to 50.8 last month from June's six-month high of 51.3.
Elsewhere in the economy, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, running for reelection in October, said today he would refrain from applying fresh taxes on the embattled energy sector and promised to bring back a popular home renovation tax credit.
In the U.S. market, shares fluctuated between gains and losses in early trading today, as investors await a batch of economic reports headlined by the key jobs reports due later in the week. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) skidded 0.1 percent to 2,096.15 at 11:57 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) fell 0.1 percent to 17,580.83, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) slipped 0.2 percent to 5,106.47. Most followed shares included CVS, Baxalta, Regeneron, AIG, Aetna, Allstate, Archer Daniels, Coach, Office Depot, eLong, and Sprint.