Canadian Stocks Give Back Ground After Early Upward Move

(RTTNews) - After an early move to the upside, Canadian stocks came under pressure over the course of the trading session on Friday.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index pulled back well off its early highs and into negative territory, closing down 66.37 points or 0.3 percent at 21,875.79.

The early strength on Bay Street came following the release of a Commerce Department report showing readings on consumer price inflation in the month of May came in line with economist estimates.

While the data initially generated renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates, buying interest waned over the course of the session.

The subsequent pullback by the markets may have reflected a negative reaction to a turnaround by U.S. treasury yields, which initially moved lower following the release of the data but subsequently rebounded firmly into positive territory.

Materials stocks led the way lower, with the S&P/TSX Capped Materials Index slumping by 1.1 percent on the day.

On the Canadian economic front, Statistics Canada released a report showing real gross domestic product grew 0.3 percent in April after being essentially unchanged in March. Both goods-producing and services-producing industries contributed to the growth