TSX Ends Flat As Commodities Struggle - Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks ended a shade lower Tuesday, tracking declining global equity markets with commodity prices struggling to move up, driven by declining gold stocks. Investors remained focused on the upcoming European Central Bank policy meet Thursday, hopeful of a cut in interest rates to boost economic growth.

Asian stocks closed lower as investors weighed comments from Fed officials and waited for a slew of U.S. economic reports. Meanwhile, the European markets ended mostly lower after the European Commission said that economic growth is set to gather pace over the forecast horizon, but the return to solid growth would be a gradual process.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed Tuesday at 13,361.71, down 0.07 points. The index touched an intraday high of 13,364.02 and a low of 13,305.15.

The Information Technology Index gained 3.22 percent, with smartphone maker BlackBerry Limited (BB.TO) gaining 3.41 percent, after having dropped 16.56 percent yesterday on shelving plans for a sale of the company and replacing Chief Executive Thorsten Heins with John Chen as interim CEO. Meanwhile, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. with a 10 percent stake in Blackberry, backed off from its bid to buy the company, but agreed to to invest about $1 billion along with other institutional investors.

The Diversified Metals & Mining Index added 0.41 percent, with First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.TO) up 1.22 percent, Osisko Mining Corp. (OSK.TO) down 3.52 percent, and Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN.TO) down 1.88 percent. Teck Resources (TCK_B.TO) gained 0.49 percent.

The Capped Materials Index slipped 0.49 percent mostly on gold stocks, with Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc.(POT.TO) dropping 0.15 percent.

The Global Gold Index dropped 1.07 percent, with gold futures for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, shedding $6.60 or 0.5 percent to close at $1,308.10 an ounce Tuesday on the Nymex.

Among gold stocks, Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI.TO) dropped 1.47 percent, while Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) slipped 0.46 percent. Kinross Gold Corp. (K.TO) lost 1.15 percent, while Eldorado Gold Corp. (ELD.TO) surrendered 1.13 percent. B2Gold Corp. (BTO.TO) dropped 2.35 percent, while Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO) added 0.42 percent.

Oil prices plunged to end at a five-month low Tuesday, amid concerns the weekly inventory reports would likely show a further increase in oil supply, with investors weighing the prospects of burgeoning inventories over the last several weeks. The official U.S. crude oil stockpile data is scheduled for release on Wednesday.

The Energy Index dipped 0.15 percent, with U.S. crude oil futures for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, plunging $1.25 or 1.3 percent to close at $93.37 a barrel Tuesday on the Nymex.

Among energy stocks, Imperial Oil Limited (IMO.TO) moved up 0.98 percent, while Enbridge Inc. (ENB.TO) gathered 0.73 percent. Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ.TO) dropped 0.64 percent, Suncor Energy (SU.TO) edged up 0.16 percent.

Encana Corp. (ECA.TO) jumped 3.34 percent after announcing its strategy to focus on capital investment in five oil and liquids-rich resource plays in North America. The company expects to cut about 20 percent of its workforce, and consolidate its office locations to Calgary, Alberta and Denver, Colorado, while closing of its Plano, Texas office. Additionally, the company announced lower cost structures and resetting of dividend.

In the oil patch, energy infrastructure company TransCanada Corp. (TRP.TO) edged up 0.19 percent after reporting a higher third-quarter profit of C$481 million or C$0.68 per share from C$369 million or C$0.52 per share last year.

The Financial Index gained 0.09 percent with Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) up 0.04 percent, while Manulife Financial Corp. (MFC.TO) gained 0.97 percent. The Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) gained 0.38 percent, while Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) edged up 0.02 percent. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) slipped 0.19 percent, while Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) shed 0.33 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index edged up 0.31 percent, with Air Canada (AC.B.TO) shedding 1.35 percent, while Bombardier Inc. (BBD.A.TO, BBD.B.TO) slipped 0.22 percent.

Airline operator WestJet Airlines (WJA.TO) moved up 0.73 percent after its third-quarter profit slipped to C$65.1 million or C$0.50 per share from last year's C$70.6 million or C$0.52 per share. Analysts expected earnings per share of C$0.48 for the quarter.

Business software provider Open Text (OTC.TO) jumped 10.02 percent after indicating it would acquire GXS Group, Inc., a privately held business-to-business cloud integration firm for $1.165 billion.

In economic news from the U.S., the Institute for Supply Management said its non-manufacturing index climbed to 55.4 in October from 54.4 in September, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the service sector. The modest increase came as a surprise to economists, who had been expecting the index to dip to a reading of 54.0.

Elsewhere, eurozone economic growth is set to gather pace over the forecast horizon, but the return to solid growth will be a gradual process, the European Commission said in its Autumn Forecast. The commission estimates euro zone GDP to shrink 0.4 percent this year, unchanged from the previous estimate. Meanwhile, the outlook for next year was lowered marginally to 1.1 percent from 1.2 percent.

Elsewhere, British retail sales picked up in October, with lower food and clothing sales limiting overall gains. Sales rose 0.8 percent year-over-year following the 0.7 percent improvement seen in September, the British Retail Consortium reported.

Switzerland's consumer prices declined further in October, and the rate of fall exceeded economists' expectations, latest data showed. The consumer price index dropped 0.3 percent in October from the same month of last year, following a 0.1 percent decline in September, the Federal Statistical Office said. Economists had forecast a 0.1 percent for October.