TSX Slides As Commodity Rally Fizzles -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks fell Thursday as Kinder Morgan complained admits its planned Trans Mountain pipeline may be "untenable" due to resistance from BC.

The company has set a May 31 to move the project forward. PM Justin Trudeau has pledged he will get the project done, but the Kinder is reportedly losing patience with political leaders.

The TSX Composite Index lost 75.55 points to 15,454.42, trimming weekly gains.

Kinder Morgan also named CFO Kimberly Dang as President, along with several other management changes.

Kinder Morgan also boosted its cash dividend by 60 percent to $0.20 per share, and reported first quarter profit of $485 million, up from $401 million last year.

In news from the marijuana sector, 14% of Canadians aged 15 and older reported having used some form of cannabis in the past three months.

However, over three-quarters of Canadians (79%) said that they would not be more likely to try or to increase their cannabis consumption.

Teamsters are warning Canadian Pacific (CP.TO) they will go on strike this week if a contract settlement is not reached in 48 hours. CP management snapped back, "We will not be held hostage."

CP's quarterly profit slipped, with the company blaming bad weather. Shares slipped 1.2 percent.

WestJet's (WJA.TO) CEO expects a new deal with pilots by June. The company will further inspect fan blades in the wake of Southwest's accident.

Gold prices edged lower, ending a modest win streak amid confidence in the U.S. and global economy.

June gold fell $4.70, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,348.80/oz.

Crude oil futures pulled back after hitting multi-year highs, even as OPEC bragged that the global oil glut is all but gone.

Reuters reports that OPEC officials claim their supply quota plan with Russia has had the intended effect of re-balancing the global oil market.

Stocks rose yesterday after the Bank of Canada held steady on interest rates.

"There is a sense that, almost by law of gravity, interest rates will move somewhat higher over time -- but again, the pace is a significant question mark for us given the data," said BoC governor Stephen Poloz.