TSX Ends Lower As Resource Stocks Slip - Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks ended at a two-week low Wednesday, dragged down mostly by mining and financial stocks, after the U.S. Federal Reserve gave no hint as to when it would begin tapering down the monetary stimulus program.

The FOMC meet made no significant changes to its bond-buying stimulus program at a two-day meeting that concluded Wednesday afternoon.

Economic growth data from both sides of the border came in mixed, with activity in the U.S. increasing at a faster than expected rate in the second quarter and Canada reporting below consensus growth in the second quarter.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed Wednesday at 12,486.64, down 95.11 points or 0.76 percent. The index touched an intraday high of 12,631.70 and a low of 12,486.64.

The Capped Materials Index shed 2.52 percent, with Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc.(POT.TO) plummeting 8.76 percent. Agrium Inc. (AGU.TO) shed 2.25 percent, while Karnalyte Resources Inc. (KRN.TO) slipped 1.97 percent.

The Global Gold Index slipped 0.80 percent, with gold futures for December delivery shedding $11.80 or 0.9 percent to close at $1,313.00 an ounce Wednesday on the Nymex.

Among gold stocks, Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI.TO) slipped 1.29 percent, while Kinross Gold Corp. (K.TO) moved up 1.11 percent. Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO) dived 4.06 percent, while Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) lost 0.52 percent.

The Diversified Metals & Mining Index slipped 1.51 percent, with First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.TO) slipping 1.90 percent. Osisko Mining Corp. (OSK.TO) fell 0.93 percent, while Teck Resources Limited (TCK.B.TO) surrendered 1.35 percent.

Base-metals miner Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN.TO) shed 3.11 percent after reporting lower second-quarter net earnings of $16.6 million or $0.03 per share compared to $44.1 million or $0.08 per share last year.

The weekly official oil report from the Energy Information Administration showed U.S. crude oil inventories to have edged up 0.40 million barrels and gasoline stocks were up 0.80 million barrels in the weekended July 26. Analysts expected crude oil stocks to shed 2.45 million barrels and gasoline stocks to move down 1.5 million barrels last week.

The Energy Index dropped 0.06 percent, with U.S. crude oil futures for September delivery surging $1.95 or 1.9 percent to close at $105.03 a barrel Wednesday on the Nymex.

Among energy stocks, Suncor Energy Inc. (SU.TO) shed 0.73 percent, while Enbridge Inc. (ENB.TO) slipped 0.57 percent. Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) edged down 0.65 percent. Encana Corp. (ECA.TO) eased 0.66 percent, while Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TOU.TO) added 0.97 percent.

Integrated oil and gas company Canadian Oil Sands (COS.TO) shed 1.97 percent after reporting a second-quarter profit of C$219 million or C$0.45 per share, sharply up from C$101 million or C$0.21 per share last year. During the quarter, sales averaged 110,100 barrels per day, up from 89,460 barrels per day last year.

Talisman Energy (TLM.TO) moved down 2.51 percent after reporting its second-quarter net income declined to $97 million from last year's $196 million, with earnings per share slipping to $0.06 from $0.14 last year.

The Financial Index slipped 0.78 percent with Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) down 0.53 percent, Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) shed 1.13 percent, and Toronto-Dominion Bank fell 0.79 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) dropped 1.29 percent, while National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) added 0.43 percent.

The Information Technology Index surged 3.88 percent, with BlackBerry Limited (BB.TO) up 1.01 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index edged down 0.82 percent, with Bombardier Inc. (BBD.A.TO, BBD.B.TO) down 3.31 percent.

Vitran Corp. (VTN.TO) dived 22.07 percent after reporting a wider second-quarter net loss of $16.97 million or $1.03 per share compared to $4.16 million or $0.25 per share in the same quarter last year. Net loss from continuing operations came in at $17.0 million or $1.03 per share compared to a net loss from continuing operations of $5.7 million or $0.35 per share for the 2012 second quarter.

Meanwhile, IT services company CGI Group Inc. (GIB_A.TO) jumped 9.81 percent after reporting improved third-quarter net earnings at C$178.2 million or C$0.56 per share compared to C$87.2 million or C$0.33 per share last year.

In economic news Statistics Canada said real gross domestic product grew for a fifth consecutive month, adding 0.2 percent in May. Service industries, particularly retail and wholesale trade, led the growth in May.

From the U.S., the ADP said private sector employment increased by 200,000 jobs in July following an upwardly revised increase of 198,000 jobs in June. Economists had been expecting employment to increase by about 179,000 jobs compared to the addition of 188,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

A report from the US Commerce Department revealed that gross domestic product increased by 1.7 percent in the second quarter following a revised 1.1 percent increase in the first quarter. Economists had expected GDP to rise by 1.1 percent compared to the 1.8 percent growth that had been reported for the previous quarter.

Elsewhere, retail sales in Germany declined unexpectedly in June, data published by the Federal Statistical Office showed. Retail sales fell a seasonally and calendar adjusted 1.5 percent month-on-month in real terms in June, reversing a 0.7 percent gain in May and a 0.3 percent increase in April. This was in contrast to economists' expectation for a 0.2 percent growth.

German unemployment declined in July, reports said citing the latest figures from the Labor Ministry. The number of unemployed fell by 7,000 persons in July from a month earlier. Economists had forecast no change in the unemployment figure.

The euro area unemployment rate remained stable at seasonally adjusted 12.1 percent in June, data from Eurostat showed. The statistical office revised May's jobless rate to 12.1 percent from 12.2 percent estimated on July 2. The June rate was seen at 12.2 percent.

A separate flash report from Eurostat showed that inflation held steady at 1.6 percent in July. The rate came in line with economists' expectations.