TSX Ends Lower As Gold Stocks Dive - Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks ended at a near three-week low Tuesday, tracking declining global equity markets on concerns over the U.S. Federal Reserve timetable for scaling down its quantitative easing program after some upbeat macroeconomic data recently. Almost all sub-indices of the main index finished in the red, with the exception of the information technology.

Investors largely ignored some positive data out of Europe and U.S. Data from either sides of the border showed trade deficit to have narrowed much more than anticipated in June.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed Tuesday at 12,469.32, down 133.93 points or 1.06 percent. The index touched an intraday high of 12,603.25 and a low of 12,419.04.

The Capped Materials Index shed 3.56 percent, with Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc.(POT.TO) up 1.66 percent.

The Global Gold Index plunged 6.11 percent, with gold futures for December delivery shedding $19.90 or 1.5 percent to close at $1,282.50 an ounce Tuesday on the Nymex.

Among gold stocks, Kinross Gold Corp. (K.TO) shed 3.57 percent. IAMGOLD Corp. (IMG.TO) dived 8.96 percent, while Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) plunged 6.18 percent.

Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO) plunged 6.45 percent, while Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI.TO) plummeted 6.53 percent.

The Diversified Metals & Mining Index fell 2.59 percent, with First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.TO) down 2.00 percent. Osisko Mining Corp. (OSK.TO) dived 7.16 percent, Teck Resources Limited (TCK.B.TO) shed 1.09 percent, and Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN.TO) surrendered 1.71 percent.

The Energy Index fell 1.49 percent, with U.S. crude oil futures for September delivery dropping $1.26 or 1.2 percent to close at $105.30 a barrel Tuesday on the Nymex.

Among energy stocks, Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) was down 0.62 percent, while Talisman Energy (TLM.TO) surrendered 1.98 percent. Encana Corp. (ECA.TO) gained 0.44 percent, while Suncor Energy Inc. (SU.TO) lost 0.83 percent.

The Financial Index shed 0.51 percent with Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) down 0.31 percent, Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) down 0.61 percent, and Toronto-Dominion Bank slipping 0.30 percent.

The Information Technology Index jumped 1.93 percent, with BlackBerry Limited (BB.TO) surging 6.90 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index slipped 0.33 percent, with Bombardier Inc. (BBD.A.TO, BBD.B.TO) adding 0.41 percent.

Oilfield services company Ensign Energy Services (ESI.TO) gained 0.06 percent after reporting a lower second quarter profit of C$3.3 million or C$0.02 per share from C$18.7 million or C$0.12 per share a year ago. Adjusted net income declined to C$14.5 million or C$0.09 per share from C$19.8 million or C$0.13 per last year. Analysts expected earnings of C$0.11 per share for the quarter.

Meanwhile, beer and other beverages company Molson Coors Brewing (TPX_B.TO) gained 5.31 percent after reporting that its second-quarter net income rose to $278.4 million or $1.51 per share from $105.1 million or $0.57 per share in the same quarter last year. Underlying earnings increased to $1.51 per share from $1.38 per share in the prior year quarter. Analysts expected earnings of $1.38 per share for the quarter.

Airlines company WestJet (WJA.TO) gained 0.94 percent after its July 2013 traffic increased 8.3 percent year-on-year, with capacity rising 11.1 percent, while monthly load factor slid 2.2 points from last year.

In economic news, Statistics Canada said the nation's trade deficit narrowed to $469 million in June from $781 million in May as exports grew 1.4 percent and imports increased 0.6 percent in June. Exports to the United States grew 1.5 percent to $29.4 billion, while imports from the US declined 0.8 percent to $25.6 billion, the agency noted. Economists expected trade deficit to come in at $500 million.

From the U.S., the Commerce Department said the country's trade deficit narrowed to $34.2 billion in June from a revised $44.1 billion in May. Economists expected the deficit to narrow to $43.0 billion from the $45.0 billion originally reported for the previous month. The much narrower than expected trade deficit came as the value of exports rose 2.2 percent to $191.2 billion, while the value of imports fell 2.5 percent to $225.4 billion.

From the eurozone, Germany's manufacturing orders increased at a significantly faster rate in June than economists expected, official data showed Tuesday. New orders in the manufacturing sector climbed a seasonally adjusted 3.8 percent sequentially in June, reversing the previous month's revised 0.5 percent decrease. Economists had forecast orders to record a more modest increase of 1 percent, following May's originally recorded 1.3 percent fall.

Meanwhile, U.K. industrial production recovered at a faster than expected pace in June, helped by mining and manufacturing output, the Office for National Statistics said. Industrial output rose 1.1 percent month-on-month in June, following three consecutive periods of zero growth. Economists had forecast output to grow moderately by 0.7 percent.