(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) Canadian shares tumbled on renewed worries about crude oversupply which took a toll on energy producers. The resource-heavy benchmark Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) fell 1 percent to 14634 at 12:26 p.m. in Toronto. Seven shares dropped for every stock that rose as nine out of the ten major share groups were in the negative territory.
The energy sector the main index's second most heavily weighted group stumbled 2.2 percent as oil Canada’s largest export fell to below $46. Energy (TSE:SU) Canada's largest oil sands producer decreased 1.5 percent to C$34.86. (TSE:ENB) Canada's largest pipeline company surrendered 0.5 percent to C$58.62.
() fell 5.8 percent to C$3.07 after the company focused on oil exploration and production in South America unveiled cost reductions to weather falling crude prices.
(TSE.TO) fell 1 percent to C$37.64 after the oil and gas producer focused on Western Canada agreed to acquire ’s () interests in the West Edson area of the Alberta Deep Basin.
Crude-oil for delivery in April fell 2.6 percent at $45.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices were set to end the week with a loss of around 7.7 percent. April Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange shed 1 percent to trade at $56.50 a barrel — trading more than 5 percent lower for the week. Oil futures fell today after a monthly report from the International Energy Agency raised concerns that the glut of crude supplies and tightening storage capacity in the U.S. may cause prices to weaken further.
The financials group which accounts for approximately 34 percent of the main measure more than any other group dropped 1.2 percent. () which has the heaviest weighting in the index gave up 1.4 percent to C$75.26. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD) the second-largest bank by market value edged back 1.4 percent to C$53.13.
The materials sub-index which includes mining shares lost 0.9 percent as gold headed for a 10th straight session of losses its longest losing streak in more than 40 years. (TSE:G) Canada’s largest gold miner by market value decreased 0.5 percent to C$23.52. (TSE:ABX) the second-largest lost 1.3 percent to C$13.33.
() a gold producer with assets in Latin America Africa and Asia sank 3.2 percent to C$1.84 after posting earnings and revenue that trailed market expectations.
U.S. gold for April delivery was unchanged at $1151.30 an ounce.
The junior () tumbled 1.6 percent to 663.31 at 12:37 p.m. in Toronto.
In economic news Canada shed fewer jobs than expected last month but losses in the natural resource sector particularly in oil-rich Alberta suggested the country's oil-exporting economy was starting to feel the effects of sharply lower crude prices. In its February employment report today Statistics Canada said full-time employment increased in Ontario but manufacturing jobs fell in the province Canada's industrial heartland and nationally.
Elsewhwere the Canadian Real Estate Association said today that sales of existing homes in Canada rose in February from January as gains in the biggest markets of Toronto and Vancouver offset a faltering market everywhere else.
In currency the Canadian dollar weakened to the lowest level in six years after the job report. The loonie weakened as much as 1 percent to C$1.2818 per U.S. dollar at 10:11 a.m. in Toronto the least since March 2009.
In the U.S. market U.S. shares retreated as energy companies dropped and consumer sentiment slid to a four-month low. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) slipped 1.1 percent to 2044 at 11:43 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) fell 1.3 percent to 17655 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) lost 0.8 percent to 4854. Most followed shares included Ulta Salon Ann El Pollo Loco Hometown Whiting Petroleum U.S. Steel and .
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