(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) Canadian shares tumbled ending a two-day advance as consumer and industrial companies weakened after data indicating a record trade deficit stoked worries the economy is slowing.
The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) slid 1.1 percent to 15191 at 12:41 p.m. in Toronto. Two shares declined for every stock that advanced as nine out of ten share groups were in the negative territory.
Canada posted a record trade gap in March as the value of energy exports declined and imports of consumer goods increased. The C$3.02 billion deficit topped the C$2.87 billion record set in July 2012.
() was down 1.3 percent at $27.80 erasing earlier gains. The Calgary company said its first-quarter profit was a record C$140.7 million or C$1.09 per share up 58 percent from a year earlier and ahead of analyst expectations. Revenue climbed 4 percent.
() slid 1 percent to C$25.32 after saying first-quarter earnings fell to C$0.34 per share from C$0.40 hurt by the fallout of slumping oil prices. Revenue fell 4 percent.
The materials sub-index which includes mining shares fell 0.4 percent even as gold rose one percent today. (TSE:G) Canada’s largest gold miner by market value slipped 1.3 percent to C$22.40. (TSE:ABX) the second-largest slumped 0.4 percent to C$15.85.
Spot gold fell initially then firmed 0.8 percent to $1197 an ounce by 10:39 a.m. U.S. gold futures for June delivery were up $10.70 an ounce at $1197.
The energy sector the main index's second most heavily weighted group added 0.1 percent as oil Canada’s largest export rose. Energy (TSE:SU) Canada's largest oil sands producer slipped 0.7 percent to C$38.82. (TSE:ENB) Canada's largest pipeline company surrendered 1.8 percent to C$62.47.
West Texas Intermediate oil futures for June rose above $60 per barrel for the first time since December.
Financials the index's most heavily weighted sector fell 0.9 percent. () which has the heaviest weighting in the index stumbled 1.4 percent to C$79.33. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD) the second-largest bank by market value gave up 1.4 percent to C$55.32.
Fortis () a utility company dropped 1.5 percent reversing an earlier rise. The company posted a first-quarter profit of C$0.71 per share up from C$0.66 a year earlier. The company said it is poised for “a strong 2015” based on the performance of its major utilities in the first quarter.
MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates () slipped 1.7 percent to $94.11 even as the company said first-quarter earnings rose to C$1.06 per share from C$0.69 and revenue improved 8 percent.
The junior () inched up 0.3 percent to 701.17 at 12:21 p.m. in Toronto.
In economic news Canada’s central bank is overhauling its rules to keep financial markets operating incorporating lessons from the 2008 crisis Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins said today. The changes range from allowing private investors to buy more new government bonds to denying bailout funding to institutions that don’t have so-called living wills Wilkins said in a speech in Montreal.
In the U.S. market shares tumbled today with technology and biotechnology stocks leading the losses. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) fell 0.8 percent to 2097 at 11:36 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) skidded 0.5 percent to 17972 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) slipped 1.3 percent to 4952. Most followed shares included Walt Disney Fiat Chrysler Tesla Jarden Kellogg Martha Stewart Estee Lauder Sprint Anadarko Petroleum and .
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