Canadian stocks fall with commodities as energy shares retreat
Friday, 31 July 2009
TORONTO, July 30 (Bloomberg): Canadian stocks retreated for a second day, led by energy and raw-materials producers, as commodities plunged and home prices fell on an annual basis for the sixth month in a row.
Energy companies fell as crude prices slid the most in three months and Talisman Energy Inc., the Canadian oil explorer with reserves in North America, the North Sea and Southeast Asia, said second-quarter profit dropped 85 per cent. Suncor Energy Inc. led declines among companies in the Canadian equity benchmark, retreating 4.1 per cent. Sun Life Financial Inc. and Manulife Financial Corp. slipped at least 1.7 per cent.
The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index fell 115.21 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 10,455.33 at 4:10 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark equity index lost 1.7 per cent yesterday after climbing 9.7 per cent in the two weeks through July 24.
"The market has just had a good, strong bounce off the bottom," said Murray Leith, vice president and director of research for Vancouver-based Odlum Brown Ltd., which manages $4.25 billion. "There's going to be give and take. The recovery is going to be long and bumpy."
Copper fell the most in three weeks in New York and London as swelling inventories fanned concern that prices climbed too high to reflect demand and China has stockpiled more than it can use in new homes, cars and appliances.
Inventories monitored by the London Metal Exchange posted their first back-to-back weekly gains since February, increasing 8.6 per cent from an eight-month low. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Japan's second-largest smelter, said Chinese imports are slowing after record purchases boosted domestic supplies, and US copper-scrap exporters report shipments to Asia are dropping.
"In Canada, a lot of the commodities strength is triggered by demand from China," said Greg Eckel, a fund manager who oversees $562 million for Morgan Meighen & Associates Ltd. in Toronto. "The market moves quite dramatically on these things."
Teck Resources Ltd., Canada's largest base metals producer, retreated 4 per cent, the most since July 8, to C$25.32. Copper for September delivery lost 4.3 cents, or 1.7 per cent, to $2.48 a pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division.
Crude dropped after a government report showed an unexpected gain in US inventories as imports jumped and refiners reduced operating rates. Oil for September delivery fell $3.88, or 5.8 per cent, to $63.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since July 16.
Suncor Energy fell 4.1 per cent to C$33.32, leading a 2.4 per cent decline in a group of energy shares that make up more than a quarter of the benchmark index. EnCana Corp., the nation's biggest natural gas producer, declined 2 per cent to C$55.76 as the fuel prices retreated.
Talisman Energy said net income slid to C$63 million ($58 million) or 6 cents a share, from C$426 million, or 41 cents, a year earlier as commodity prices sank, the Calgary-based company said today in a statement. Talisman fell 4.8 per cent to C$16.27.
Energy companies fell as crude prices slid the most in three months and Talisman Energy Inc., the Canadian oil explorer with reserves in North America, the North Sea and Southeast Asia, said second-quarter profit dropped 85 per cent. Suncor Energy Inc. led declines among companies in the Canadian equity benchmark, retreating 4.1 per cent. Sun Life Financial Inc. and Manulife Financial Corp. slipped at least 1.7 per cent.
The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index fell 115.21 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 10,455.33 at 4:10 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark equity index lost 1.7 per cent yesterday after climbing 9.7 per cent in the two weeks through July 24.
"The market has just had a good, strong bounce off the bottom," said Murray Leith, vice president and director of research for Vancouver-based Odlum Brown Ltd., which manages $4.25 billion. "There's going to be give and take. The recovery is going to be long and bumpy."
Copper fell the most in three weeks in New York and London as swelling inventories fanned concern that prices climbed too high to reflect demand and China has stockpiled more than it can use in new homes, cars and appliances.
Inventories monitored by the London Metal Exchange posted their first back-to-back weekly gains since February, increasing 8.6 per cent from an eight-month low. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Japan's second-largest smelter, said Chinese imports are slowing after record purchases boosted domestic supplies, and US copper-scrap exporters report shipments to Asia are dropping.
"In Canada, a lot of the commodities strength is triggered by demand from China," said Greg Eckel, a fund manager who oversees $562 million for Morgan Meighen & Associates Ltd. in Toronto. "The market moves quite dramatically on these things."
Teck Resources Ltd., Canada's largest base metals producer, retreated 4 per cent, the most since July 8, to C$25.32. Copper for September delivery lost 4.3 cents, or 1.7 per cent, to $2.48 a pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division.
Crude dropped after a government report showed an unexpected gain in US inventories as imports jumped and refiners reduced operating rates. Oil for September delivery fell $3.88, or 5.8 per cent, to $63.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since July 16.
Suncor Energy fell 4.1 per cent to C$33.32, leading a 2.4 per cent decline in a group of energy shares that make up more than a quarter of the benchmark index. EnCana Corp., the nation's biggest natural gas producer, declined 2 per cent to C$55.76 as the fuel prices retreated.
Talisman Energy said net income slid to C$63 million ($58 million) or 6 cents a share, from C$426 million, or 41 cents, a year earlier as commodity prices sank, the Calgary-based company said today in a statement. Talisman fell 4.8 per cent to C$16.27.