Canadian Stocks Struggle To Hold Early Gains Due To Gold -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market was up sharply in early trade Wednesday, but has struggled to maintain them. The market slipped back into negative territory briefly due to heavy losses in the gold and mining sectors, but has since turned modestly positive.

Global markets bounced back sharply during yesterday's session, following the panic selling of "Black Monday." However, the majority of them gave back much of those gains as the session wore on. Investors remain concerned by the situation in China, despite the nation's efforts to boost growth.

China's central bank injected 140 billion yuan into the financial system through its short-term liquidity operations facility. The Peoples' Bank of China also lowered interest rates for the fifth time in nine months on Tuesday.

Markets in Europe have slipped back into the red Wednesday, after briefly crossing into positive territory. Markets in the United States are up in early trade, but are off their early highs.

New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods unexpectedly saw a notable increase in the month of July, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders climbed by 2.0 percent in July after jumping by an upwardly revised 4.1 percent in June. The continued increase surprised economists, who had expected orders to drop by 0.4 percent.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 11.39 points or 0.09 percent at 13,162.32.

On Tuesday, the index closed up 98.19 points or 0.75 percent, at 13,150.93. The index scaled an intraday high of 13,445.63 and a low of 13,134.33.

The Gold Index is sinking by 5.35 percent. Gold prices turned lower Wednesday morning as stocks rose, easing fears about a global market meltdown. The precious metal has lost some of its appeal after strong recent gains.

Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is lower by 7.57 percent and B2Gold (BTO.TO) is losing 7.69 percent. Kinross Gold (K.TO) is declining by 3.04 percent and Royal Gold (RGL.TO) is falling by 6.38 percent. Goldcorp (G.TO) is decreasing by 6.29 percent and IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is weakening by 7.91 percent. Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is tumbling by 5.82 percent and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is down 6.60 percent.

The Capped Materials Index is also down 2.87 percent. Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is losing 5.92 percent and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is down 5.99 percent. Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) is declining by 5.70 percent.

The Diversified Metal and Mining Index is falling by 2.64 percent. HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO) is losing 5.87 percent and Capstone Mining (CS.TO) is falling by 1.59 percent. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is declining by 3.91 percent and Teck Resources (TCK-A.TO) is down 0.86 percent. Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) is lower by 1.80 percent and Sherritt International (S.TO) is decreasing by 1.00 percent.

The Energy Index is decreasing by 0.02 percent. Crude oil prices were flat Wednesday morning as equities attempt to rebound from brutal losses earlier in the week.

Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is falling by 0.12 percent and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is lower by 1.20 percent. Encana (ECA.TO) is decreasing by 0.69 percent and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is declining by 0.36 percent. Enbridge (ENB.TO) is losing 0.59 percent.

Pacific Exploration & Production (PRE.TO) is sinking by 5.41 percent. The company announced that José Francisco Arata has retired as President and director of the Company effective immediately.

The Capped Health Care Index is dipping by 0.18 percent. Concordia Healthcare (CXR.TO) is declining by 1.65 percent and Extendicare (EXE.TO) is losing 1.93 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index is climbing by 0.26 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is up 0.99 percent and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is rising by 1.41 percent. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is higher by 1.01 percent and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is gaining 2.02 percent.

National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is increasing by 1.11 percent. The company reported third quarter adjusted EPS of C$1.25, which topped the consensus estimate of C$1.19.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is declining by 1.48 percent. The company reported third quarter adjusted EPS of C$1.66, which fell short of the consensus estimate of C$1.67.

The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is climbing by 0.63 percent. TELUS (T.TO) is up 1.12 percent and Manitoba Telecom Services (MBT.TO) is higher by 1.47 percent.

The Capped Information Technology Index is adding 0.77 percent. Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) is advancing by 2.38 percent and Avigilon (AVO.TO) is adding 0.46 percent. Constellation Software (CSU.TO) is also higher by 1.19 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index is up 0.15 percent. Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is gaining 0.21 percent and Air Canada (AC.TO) is increasing by 0.64 percent. Bombardier (BBD-A.TO) is surging by 5.79 percent and AutoCanada (ACQ.TO) is rising by 0.52 percent.

On the economic front, British retail sales growth improved unexpectedly in August, survey data from the Confederation of British Industry revealed Wednesday. The balance of the CBI's distributive trades survey rose to +24 in August from +21 in the previous month. Economists had expected a balance of +18.

U.K. mortgage approvals rose for a seventh month in a row in July to their highest level in seventeen months, in line with economists' expectations, figures from the British Bankers' Association showed Wednesday.

The seasonally adjusted number of mortgage approvals for house purchased climbed to 46,033 from 44,802 in June, which was revised from 44,488. Economists had forecast 46,000 approvals for July.

In commodities, crude oil futures for September delivery are down $0.08 or 0.20 percent at $39.23 a barrel.

Natural gas for September is up 0.007 or 0.26 percent at $2.692 per million btu.

Gold futures for December are down $18.80 or 1.65 percent at $1,119.50 an ounce.

Silver for September is down $0.585 or 4.00 percent at $14.025 an ounce.