Roundup: Canadian stocks lower over uncertainty in Spain
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E-mail Xinhua, September 29, 2012
Roundup: Canadian stocks lower over uncertainty in Spain
By Jackie Cheng
TORONTO, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Canadian stocks closed slightly lower on Friday following Thursday's surge, as investors reacted cautiously over the uncertainty in Spain's economy.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dipped 21.39 points, or 0.17 percent, to 12,317.46, while the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index gained 12.20 points, or 0.92 percent, to 1,334.51.
Investors held back on Friday, as seven out of 14 largest Spanish banks failed an independently conducted stress test, and revealed that Spanish banks will need around 77.24-billion U.S. dollars in capital to stay afloat.
Energy and banking stocks closed lower, with Canadian Natural Resources losing 1.56 percent to 30.33 Canadian dollars a share. Imperial Oil fell 0.5 percent to 45.25 Canadian dollars a share. Suncor Energy slid 0.25 percent to 32.34 Canadian dollars a share.
Canada's largest bank, Royal Bank of Canada, dropped 0.26 percent to 56.54 Canadian dollars a share, while the second largest, TD Bank, dropped 0.45 percent to 81.99 Canadian dollars a share.
Industrials took the heaviest brunt in the market, with leading Canadian design and consulting firm, Stantec Inc. dropping 3 percent to 33.50 Canadian dollars a share. Meanwhile, the world's largest distributor of Caterpillar products, Finning International Inc., fell by 2.9 percent to 23.84 Canadian dollars a share.
In corporate news, BlackBerry maker, Research In Motion Ltd.( RIM), said on Friday its quarterly loss was 235-million Canadian dollars, compared with 329-million Canadian dollars profit last year. However, the adjusted loss for the company was actually 142- million Canadian dollars, which is narrower than what analysts had expected. Overall, RIM's revenue, cash flow and subscriber base have all increased, and investors are looking forward to its next generation smartphones, the BB10s. The optimism launched RIM stocks ahead by 8 percent on Friday to 7.52 Canadian dollars a share.
Oil and gas producer, Enbridge Inc. said on Thursday it has won regulatory approval to add a 1.4 billion Canadian dollars crude oil pipeline in the province of Alberta. The deal will move output from Imperial Oil Ltd's Kearl oil sands project and increase production in the region. Enbridge's stock tumbled by 0.75 percent to 38.40 Canadian dollars a share.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported on Friday that Canada's GDP grew 0.2 percent in July, compared with 0.1 percent in June. July saw goods production improving by 0.2 percent on the back of stronger manufacturing and utilities in the country. Manufacturing gained 0.6 percent, while wholesale trade and service industries were up by 0.2 percent. However, mining, oil and gas construction and extraction have all declined.
In currency, the Canadian dollar lost some ground and was trading at 1.0177 U.S. dollars at closing, 5 p.m. local time (2200 GMT), compared with 1.0197 U.S. dollars on Thursday. Enditem
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