Canadian Stocks Are Losing Ground On Commodity Weakness -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is adding to the losses of the previous three sessions on Wednesday. The market is tracking global equity markets lower as raw material stocks are under pressure. The decline in the price of copper has brought the price of the metal to its lowest level since the middle of 2009.

Financial stocks are also weak, after the disappointing quarterly report from U.S. bank JP Morgan Chase. Energy stocks are only slightly lower, as the price of oil attempts to rebound from its recent drop.

A much weaker than expected report on U.S. retail sales has also had a negative impact on investor sentiment. retail sales slumped by 0.9 percent in December after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.4 percent in November. Economists had expected sales to edge down by 0.1 percent.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed that falling fuel prices contributed to another substantial decrease in U.S. import prices in the month of December. The Labor Department said its import price index plummeted by 2.5 percent in December after tumbling by a revised 1.8 percent in November. Economists had expected import prices to slump by 2.7 percent.

Additionally, the report said export prices fell by 1.2 percent in December following a 0.8 percent drop in the previous month. Export prices had been expected to fall by 0.5 percent.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 140.45 points or 0.99 percent at 14,046.71. The market is off its intraday low of $13,993.42.

On Tuesday, the index closed down 77.85 points or 0.55 percent, at 14,187.16. The index scaled an intraday high of 14,369.84 and a low of 14,074.95.

The Diversified Metal and Mining Index is sinking by 10.69 percent. Teck Resources (TCK.TO) is falling by 2.82 percent and Capstone Mining (CS.TO) is sinking by 13.13 percent. HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO) is declining by 14.62 percent and Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ.TO) is down 1.50 percent. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is plunging by 13.51 percent and Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) is lower by 14.10 percent.

The Capped Materials Index is also down 1.86 percent. Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is decreasing by 0.55 percent and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is down 2.04 percent. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT.TO) is also lower by 0.07 percent.

The Gold Index is rising by 0.34 percent as the price of gold ticks higher. Kinross Gold (K.TO) is rising 1.31 percent and Goldcorp (G.TO) is increasing by 2.92 percent.

The Financial Index is lower by 1.41 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is down 1.61 percent and Toronto-Dominion (TD.TO) is losing 2.60 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is falling by 1.49 percent and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is decreasing by 1.20 percent. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is declining by 1.71 percent and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is losing 1.17 percent.

The Energy Index is falling by 0.63 percent, as the price of oil is showing signs of stabilizing. Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is down 1.03 percent and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is lower by 0.88 percent. Canadian Oil Sands (COS.TO) is losing 1.34 percent. Encana (ECA.TO) is declining by 0.93 percent and ARC Resources (ARX.TO) is down 0.46 percent.

The Information Technology Index is declining by 1.21 percent. Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) is losing 1.05 percent and Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) is down 0.22 percent. BlackBerry (BB.TO) is also decreasing by 2.50 percent.

The Health Care Index is lower by 0.65 percent. Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX.TO) is down 0.11 percent and Extendicare (EXE.TO) is falling by 1.87 percent.

Cogeco Cable (CCA.TO) is down 2.07 percent. The company reported first-quarter profit of C$1.15 per share after the bell Tuesday, higher than C$1.01 per share for the year-ago quarter. Analysts had expected earnings of C$1.13 per share. However, revenues increased 4.6 percent to C$497.0 million, which was below the consensus estimate of C$497.21 million.

Shaw Communications (SJR-B.TO) is losing 3.46 percent. The company reported first quarter earnings of C$0.46 per share, down from C$0.51 per share in the prior-year. The consensus estimate was for earnings of C$0.53 per share.

In commodities, crude oil futures for February delivery are up $0.59 or 1.29 percent at $46.48 a barrel.

Natural gas for February is up $0.202 or 6.86 percent at $3.145 per million btu.

Gold futures for February are up $3.60 or 0.29 percent at $1,238.00 an ounce.

Silver for March is down $0.171 or 1.00 percent at $16.985 an ounce. Copper for March is also down 0.1125 or 4.25 percent at $2.5315.