Canadian shares slid as energy producers retreat with the slump of oil prices.
The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) stumbled 0.9 percent to 14,280.42 at 1:04 p.m. in Toronto. Two shares declined for every issue that advanced as eight out of ten share groups were in the negative territory.
The energy sector, the main index's second most heavily weighted group, slipped 1.2 percent as oil, Canada’s largest export, fell to new multi-month lows.
Suncor Energy (TSE:SU), Canada's largest oil sands producer, slipped 0.1 percent to C$37.49. Enbridge (TSE:ENB), Canada's largest pipeline company, gave back 1.3 percent to C$55.81.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery recently fell 1 percent to $44.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, on track to settle at the lowest price since March.
The materials sub-index, which includes mining shares, rose 0.7 percent as gold steadied.
Goldcorp (TSE:G), Canada’s largest gold miner by market value, gained 0.7 percent to C$17.79. Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX), Canada’s second-largest gold miner, jumped 4 percent to C$9.35.
Potash Corp of Saskatchewan (NYSE:POT) slid 0.5 percent to C$35.17. The company’s second unsolicited attempt to take over Germany’s K+S AG was rejected today.
U.S. gold for December delivery was up 0.4 percent at $1,094 an ounce.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, fell 1.1 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY), which has the heaviest weighting in the index, sank 1.3 percent to C$76.08. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD), the second-largest bank by market value, lost 1.1 percent to C$39.83.
GMP Capital (TSE:GMP) retreated 3.5 percent to C$4.91. The wealth management company posted earnings of C$5.5 million, down 55.6 percent from the same period the year before. Revenue also declined slightly to C$79.2 million for the quarter.
The telecommunications group, the sixth heaviest on the stock, dropped 0.5 percent. Sierra Wireless (TSE:SW) tumbled 11.6 percent to C$28.20 even as the wireless communications company swung to a profit in the second quarter of $4.08 million from a loss of $8.2 million a year earlier.
TELUS (TSE:T) slid 0.4 percent to C$44.65. The telecommunications company reported earnings dropped 10.5 percent in the second quarter to C$341 million from C$381 million a year earlier.
Magna International (TSE:MG) wavered between gains and losses. The auto-parts maker reported a 9 percent drop in second-quarter sales, ahead of expectations but hampered by a strong U.S. dollar.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (CVE:OSPVX) fell 0.7 percent to 576.84 at 12:51 p.m. in Toronto.
In economic news, Canada gained 6,600 jobs during the month, leaving the nation’s unemployment rate unchanged at 6.8 percent, helped by increases in part-time and self-employed work. U.S. payrolls added 215,000 jobs in July, keeping the Federal Reserve on the path toward raising interest rates as soon as next month.
In the U.S. market, shares traded lower today after data showed steady job growth in July, increasing the chances Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in September. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) skidded 0.6 percent to 2,070.63 at 11:55 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) sank 0.7 percent to 17,298.18, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) fell 0.9 percent to 5,014.08. Most followed shares included Nvidia, JD.com, Groupon, Hershey, Cablevision, Sprouts Farmers, Lions Gate, Transocean, Cheniere Energy, and Capital One.