Toronto's main stock index closed moderately lower on Thursday as concerns about tighter credit in China and doubts about an aid plan for debt-stricken Greece increased investor caution over the global economic outlook and pressured commodity prices. Both oil and natural gas prices weakened, sending the TSX's energy group down 0.9 percent.
April crude fell 0,88 percent to $82.20 a barrel, while gas futures hit multi-month lows after a US government report showed an unexpectedly light weekly inventory draw. Canadian Natural Resources, the country's biggest independent oil explorer, fell 1.3 percent to C$73.73, while EnCana Corp dropped 1.8 percent to C$32.12. "It seems like a very measured sort of decline," said Elvis Picardo, an analyst and strategist at Global Securities in Vancouver.
"There's absolutely no sense of panic. It's comforting to see the TSX is still managing to hold above the 12,000 mark," he added. The index touched a 17-month high of 12,122.47 on Wednesday. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index closed down 60.65 points, or 0.5 percent, at 12,040.01, with nine out of its 10 sectors finishing lower. Technology stocks were slightly higher. Gold miners fell despite flight-to-quality buying of bullion. Barrick Gold Corp, the world's biggest producer, dropped 0.6 percent to C$40.32, while Goldcorp Inc fell 1.1 percent to C$39.82.
"The thing with gold is that price of gold in US terms has been holding up quite all right, but in Canadian dollar terms gold prices have been slightly weak, and that's again purely because of the appreciation of the Canadian dollar," Picardo said.