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TORONTO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Canada's main stock market in Toronto declined for a second straight day on Thursday, as dips in copper price and industrials stocks outpaced gains in food and energy stocks.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite retreated 49.02 points, or 0.31 percent, to finish the session at 15,781.20 points. Seven of the ten sub-groups lost ground on the day.
The Materials and Industrial groups contributed most to day's losses, dropping 1.09 percent and 1.20 percent, respectively.
The TSX Materials group, which is made up of producers of gold, precious metals, and raw materials, fell after China's Vice Housing Minister said the government will speed up the process of introducing a nationwide property tax on houses. As a result of the news, the spot price of copper dipped 2.73 percent to 2.646 U.S. dollars a pound.
Subsequently, a trio of base metal producers saw shares decline by more than five percent on the day. Vancouver-based First Quantum Minerals Ltd. shares were the most traded stock on the day (11.2 million shares) and plunged 6.50 percent to 14.23 Canadian dollars (10.85 U.S. dollars). Meanwhile, shares of Hudbay Minerals Inc. and Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. dipped 6.36 percent and 5.45 percent, respectively.
The Industrials group was hampered by the country's two largest rail firms. Calgary-based Canadian Pacific Railway Limited shares dipped 1.86 percent, while Montreal-based Canadian National Railway Company fell 1.53 percent. Also contributing to the group's loss was Bombardier Inc. shares falling 0.40 percent to close at 2.52 Canadian dollars (1.92 U.S. dollars).
Other groups to finish the day in negative territory included: Information Technology (0.70 percent), Health Care (0.66 percent), Consumer Discretionary (0.42 percent), Financials (0.28 percent), and Telecommunications (0.27 percent).
Consumer Discretionary finished lower despite two members posting favorable end of year financials. Clothing retailer Hudson's Bay Company shares advanced 2.36 percent after the firm forecasted 75 million Canadian dollars of operational savings in 2017. Montreal-based clothing supplier Gildan Activewear Inc. shares gained 1.84 percent after the firm posted an 8.1 percent increase in net sales during the fourth quarter.
Dragging the group down were auto parts maker Magna International Inc. and fast food conglomerate Restaurant Brands International Inc., slipping 1.46 percent and 0.98 percent, respectively.
On a bright note, the TSX Consumer Staples group posted the biggest gains for a second straight session. The group which is made up of firms that produce, distribute or sell essential products was boosted by Supermarket retailer Loblaws after posting a 57-percent increase in net earnings compared to the fourth period of last year. Shares of the Toronto-based company promptly jumped 3.09 percent to 71.05 Canadian dollars (54.18 U.S. dollars).
The other two groups to finish Thursday ahead were Energy (0.77 percent) and Utilities (0.18 percent).
Energy finished higher as the price of crude oil moved up after U.S. Energy Administration reported that crude inventories rose 564,000 barrels, less than the market expectation of a 3.5 million barrel increase. Subsequently, the price of Brent jumped 1.07 percent to 56.45 U.S. dollars a barrel.
Shares of Calgary-based energy firm Suncor Energy Inc. climbed 1.71 percent to 42.85 Canadian dollars (32.67 U.S. dollars), while MEG Energy Corp. and Spartan Energy Corp. saw respective gains of 1.13 percent and 1.05 percent.
The Canadian dollar moved up 0.19 cents to finish the day at 0.7625 U.S. dollars.
