Canadian Stocks Are Sinking As Commodity Prices Drop -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is under pressure in early trade Friday, adding to the modest losses of the previous session. Gold and energy stocks are turning in the weakest performances this morning, due to the continued drop in the price of gold and crude oil. Global markets are struggling at the end of the week as the enthusiasm inspired by Donald Trump's surprise victory in Tuesday's U.S. presidential election has faded.

Most European markets have slipped into negative territory on Friday. One notable exception is the German DAX, which remains in positive territory after a strong earnings update insurer Allianz.

Markets in the United States dipped at the open Friday and are continuing to linger slightly below the flat line in early trade. Profit taking is partly responsible for some of the early weakness on Wall Street after the Dow reached new record highs in the previous session. Trading activity is also somewhat subdued due to the Veterans Day holiday, which has closed banks and the bond markets today.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 147.50 points or 1.00 percent at 14,596.75.

On Thursday, the index closed down 15.66 points or 0.11 percent, at 14,744.25. The index scaled an intraday high of 14,852.75 and a low of 14,735.40.

The Gold Index is declining 3.55 percent. Gold prices are tumbling Friday morning, as Wall Street took Donald Trump's election win in stride.

Goldcorp (G.TO) is down 2.87 percent and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is decreasing 2.14 percent. Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is losing 5.02 percent and Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is declining 3.07 percent. Kinross Gold (K.TO) is weakening by 1.45 percent and B2Gold (BTO.TO) is falling 5.52 percent. IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is also lower by 4.24 percent.

The Capped Materials Index is also down 2.77 percent. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is declining 4.69 percent and Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is down 1.18 percent. Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) is losing 3.96 percent and Agrium (AGU.TO) is slipping 0.57 percent. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT.TO) is also down 0.38 percent.

The Energy Index is down 1.71 percent. Crude oil prices continue to fall Friday morning, amid a strong dollar and fears OPEC will be unable to prevent a massive glut in global stockpiles.

Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) is decreasing 1.42 percent and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is declining 1.60 percent. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is lower by 1.11 percent and Encana (ECA.TO) is dropping 2.79 percent. Husky Energy (HSE.TO) is down 0.56 percent and Enbridge (ENB.TO) is losing 1.71 percent. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is tumbling 2.20 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index is down 0.62 percent. Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is falling 1.01 percent and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is losing 0.61 percent. AutoCanada (ACQ.TO) is decreasing 0.75 percent and Finning International (FTT.TO) is forfeiting 0.59 percent. Bombardier Inc. (BBD-B.TO) is weakening by 0.77 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index is decreasing 0.49 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is falling 0.45 percent and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is dipping 0.15 percent. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is weakening by 0.54 percent and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is down 0.24 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is declining 0.67 percent and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is lower by 0.23 percent.

The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is weakening by 0.21 percent. TELUS (T.TO) is losing 0.29 percent and Manitoba Telecom Services (MBT.TO) is decreasing 0.51 percent. Rogers Communication (RCI-B.TO) is down 0.28 percent.

The Capped Healthcare Index is higher by 0.79 percent. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX.TO) is rising 2.73 percent and Concordia International (CXR.TO) is up 5.92 percent. Extendicare (EXE.TO) is also gaining 4.63 percent.

The Capped Information Technology Index is rising 0.04 percent. Constellation Software (CSU.TO) is higher by 0.04 percent and BlackBerry (BB.TO) is adding 0.05 percent. Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) is climbing 3.06 percent and Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) is gaining 0.64 percent.

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM-A.TO) is decreasing 1.59 percent. The company revealed a profit for its third quarter that climbed 76% from last year.

Hudson's Bay (HBC.TO) is sinking 9 percent, after it cut its full-year forecast as third quarter revenues fell.

Onex (OCX.TO) said third quarter revenues increased 7% to $5.5 billion. Shares are slipping 0.34 percent.

Cascades (CAS.TO) is tumbling 5.28 percent after it reported third quarter sales of $1.021 billion.

On the economic front, Germany's inflation climbed to a two-year high in October, final data from Destatis revealed Friday. The consumer price index climbed 0.8 percent year-on-year in October, faster than the 0.7 percent rise seen in September. A similar higher rate was last reported in October 2014.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices gained 0.2 percent after rising 0.1 percent in September. Both annual and monthly inflation figures matched preliminary estimates published on October 28.

Germany's wholesale prices increased for the first time in more than three years in October, figures from Destatis showed Friday. Wholesale prices climbed 0.5 percent in October from prior year, reversing a 0.3 percent drop in September.

U.K. construction output expanded unexpectedly in September reversing a decline seen a month ago, the Office for National Statistics reported Friday. Construction output grew 0.3 percent on month in contrast to August's 1.1 percent decrease. Output was forecast to drop 0.4 percent.

After showing U.S. consumer sentiment at its lowest level in over a year in the previous month, the University of Michigan released a report on Friday showing that consumer sentiment rebounded to a six-month high in November.

The preliminary report showed that the consumer sentiment index jumped to 91.6 in November after slumping to 87.2 in October. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 87.5.

In commodities, crude oil futures for December delivery are down 1.00 or 2.24 percent at $43.66 a barrel.

Natural gas for December is up 0.026 or 0.99 percent at $2.658 per million btu.

Gold futures for December are down $36.80 or 2.91 percent at $1,229.60 an ounce.

Silver for December is down $0.907 or 4.84 percent at $17.83 an ounce.