Canadian Stocks Continue To Weaken -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is down again Tuesday, after an attempt to rebound from early losses failed to hold. The market has ended in the red for seven consecutive sessions. Utilities are among the weakest performing stocks this morning, while mining, energy and financials are also struggling.

Markets in Europe are trading in the green Tuesday, after five days of losses. Encouraging corporate earnings reports and M&A news has helped to offset recent concerns about a slowdown in China.

Markets in the United States are turning in a mixed performance. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones are holding onto modest gains, but the Nasdaq is trading slightly to the downside. Bargain hunting is contributing to some early strength on Wall Street following the weakness seen in the five previous sessions. However, investors are still playing it cautious ahead of Wednesday's Fed announcement.

With home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas unexpectedly showing a monthly decrease in May, Standard & Poor's released a report on Tuesday showing that the annual rate of price growth during the month came in well below economist estimates.

The report said the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index rose 4.9 percent year-over-year in May, reflecting a modest slowdown from the upwardly revised 5.0 percent growth seen in April. Economists had expected the annual rate of price growth to accelerate to 5.6 percent from the 4.9 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Confidence among U.S. consumers has seen a substantial deterioration in the month of July, according to a report released by the Conference Board on Tuesday. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index tumbled to 90.9 in July from a downwardly revised 99.8 in June.

Economists had expected the index to show a much more modest decrease to a reading of 99.6 from the 101.4 originally reported for the previous month.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 32.06 points or 0.23 percent at 13,969.31.

On Monday, the index closed down 184.87 points or 1.30 percent, at 14,001.37. The index scaled an intraday high of 14,112.13 and a low of 13,956.05.

The heavyweight Financial Index is weakening by 0.42 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is dropping by 0.80 percent and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is decreasing by 0.76 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is declining by 0.16 percent and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is lower by 0.39 percent.

First National Financial (FN.TO) is gaining 2.44 percent. The company reported second quarter EPS of $0.68, compared to $0.44 a year ago.

The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is losing 0.45 percent. BCE (BCE.TO) is declining by 0.91 percent TELUS (T.TO) is decreasing by 0.48 percent. Rogers Communication (RCI-A.TO) is falling by 1.41 percent.

The Diversified Metal and Mining Index is declining by 0.18 percent. HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO) is falling by 0.36 percent.

First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is decreasing by 5.28 percent. The company reported that it is getting reduced electricity to its Kansanshi operation from ZESCO, Zambia's state-run power company.

The Capped Materials Index is down 0.18 percent. Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is falling by 0.90 percent and Agrium (AGU.TO) is decreasing by 2.16 percent. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT.TO) is also lower by 1.15 percent.

The Energy Index is decreasing by 0.01 percent. Crude oil prices continued to tumble Tuesday morning amid concerns about Chinese demand and rising supplies. Prices briefly slipped below $47 for the first time in months.

Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) is down 0.37 percent and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is losing 0.36 percent. Pacific Rubiales Energy (PRE.TO) is surrendering 0.60 percent and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is lower by 0.46 percent. Encana (ECA.TO) is dropping by 1.14 percent and Enbridge (ENB.TO) is decreasing by 1.49 percent.

Husky Energy (HSE.TO) is gaining 2.57 percent. Second quarter net earnings were $120 million, compared to $628 million a year ago. The company also declared a second quarter dividend of C$0.30 per share on its common shares.

MEG Energy (MEG.TO) is higher by 2.17 percent. The company reported second quarter EPS of $0.28, compared to the loss of $2.27 a year ago.

The Capped Health Care Index is falling by 0.35 percent. Concordia Healthcare (CXR.TO) is losing 0.16 percent and Valeant Pharmaceutical Industries (VRX.TO) is lower by 1.24 percent.

The Gold Index is rising by 0.76 percent. Gold prices were lower Tuesday morning, having dropped sharply this month on the stronger U.S. dollar and increased risk appetite.

Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is advancing by 0.78 percent and Kinross Gold (K.TO) is climbing by 1.36 percent. Goldcorp (G.TO) is rising by 0.67 percent and Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is up 3.94. Royal Gold (RGL.TO) is gaining 0.89 percent and IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is adding 2.89 percent.

The Capped Information Technology Index is gaining 0.22 percent. BlackBerry (BB.TO) is up 4.63 percent and Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) is rising by 1.98 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index is up 0.03 percent. Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is rising by 0.09 percent and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is increasing by 0.48 percent. Bombardier (BBD-A.TO) is gaining 2.67 percent.

WestJet Airlines (WJA.TO) is losing 1.19 percent. The company reported second quarter EPS of C$0.49, compared to C$0.40 in the prior year.

On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday morning that the Canadian Industrial Product Price index rose by 0.5 percent in June. Economists had expected an increase of 0.3 percent.

A measure of future economic activity in Eurozone rose for the seventh successive month in June, signaling a modest recovery in economic activity through the balance of the year, the Conference Board said Monday. The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index, or LEI, for the euro area increased 0.4 percent to 107.1, after a 0.3 percent rise in May. In April, the index rose by 0.5 percent.

French unemployment rose marginally to a fresh record in June, data released by the labor ministry revealed late Monday. The number of unemployed increased 1,300 in June from the prior month to 3.55 million. From a year ago, it rose by 4.7 percent.

U.K. economic growth accelerated in the second quarter driven by an improvement in services output, which has again fueled debate over the timing of the interest rate hike. Gross domestic product grew 0.7 percent sequentially, in line with forecast, following a 0.4 percent rise in the first quarter, preliminary estimate from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday.

House price inflation in England and Wales reached its 3-month high in June, after easing in the previous nine months, data from the Land Registry showed Tuesday. The house price index rose 5.4 percent year-over-year in June, faster than previous month's 4.6 percent climb. The latest rate of inflation was the highest since March, when prices grew the same 5.4 percent.

In commodities, crude oil futures for August delivery are down $0.20 or 0.42 percent at $47.19 a barrel.

Natural gas for August is up 0.027 or 0.97 percent at $2.816 per million btu.

Gold futures for August are down $2.60 or 0.24 percent at $1,093.80 an ounce.

Silver for September is up $0.005 or 0.03 percent at $14.61 an ounce.