Canada's main stock index was little changed on Friday with investors awaiting a resolution by US lawmakers to end a federal government shutdown and overall market action muted ahead of the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend. A drop in gold producers and a decline in Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc, after the fertiliser company cut its profit forecast for the third quarter, weighed on the market, offsetting some of the optimism around a possible deal being reached in Washington.
"The TSX is of course adversely affected today by the drop in precious metals in particular ... you also had that announcement by Potash pre-warning," said David Baskin, portfolio manager and president of Baskin Financial Services "Add that all up, and that's why Canada is not following the US uphill." After recording its biggest jump in three months in the previous session, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index finished the session down 2.30 points, or 0.02 percent, at 12,892.11.
The financial sector gained 0.4 percent, with Royal Bank of Canada climbing 0.5 percent to C$68.03. Energy shares added nearly 0.5 percent, with TransCanada Corp rising 1.2 percent to C$45.33. Encana Corp added 2.1 percent to C$18.30. The two companies were among the most influential movers on the index. But weakness in the price of bullion weighed on the materials sector, which includes mining stocks. Gold producers fell more than 3 percent. Barrick Gold Corp shed 3.9 percent to C$17.81, and Goldcorp Inc fell 3.1 percent to C$24.48. The two stocks had the biggest negative influence on the market. Potash Corp was down 1.6 percent at C$32.46 after it estimated quarterly profit would be below market expectations as customers delayed purchases amid market uncertainty.
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