Canadian Stocks Dropped After Crude Prices Reversed - Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended Wednesday's session firmly in negative territory. Energy stocks were among the weakest performers following the release of today's U.S. inventory data. Industrials and the heavyweight financial sector were also under pressure.

The Bank of Canada has maintained its benchmark interest rate at 0.50 percent Wednesday morning. The decision was in line with expectations.

In its monetary policy report, the bank forecasts the economy to continue to grow during the rest of the year, albeit at a more moderate pace, supported by rising foreign demand, federal fiscal stimulus and accommodative monetary and financial conditions.

The bank upped its annual growth forecast to 2.6 percent in 2017, from its January forecast of 2.1 percent, reflected by economic strength at the start of the year.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index finished down by 78.71 points Wednesday, or 0.50 percent, at 15,648.40. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,714.52 and a low of 15,642.96.

On Tuesday, the index closed down 3.68 points or 0.02 percent, at 15,727.11.

The Energy Index dropped 1.09 percent. Crude oil prices were up Wednesday morning, but turned lower following the release today's U.S. inventory data.

For a second week in a row, the American Petroleum Institute said U.S. inventories dwindled. This time, the API reported a 1.3 million barrel drawdown.

The U.S. EIA reported this morning that U.S. crude inventories declined by 2.2 million barrels last week.

The Capped Industrials Index declined 1.36 percent and the heavyweight Financial Index decreased 0.83 percent.

The Capped Information Technology Index gained 0.87 percent, largely due to the rise in shares of BlackBerry. BlackBerry (BB.TO) surged 15.38 percent. The company announced a binding interim arbitration decision awarding the company $814.9 million in royalty overpayments made to Qualcomm.

Shaw Communications (SJR-B.TO) was another notable gainer, with an increase of 4.81 percent. The company reported a profit for its second quarter that rose from last year.