TORONTO, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Canada's main stock index went down Tuesday due to losses in oil companies as crude prices dropped and precious metal stocks also fell on easing geopolitical tensions between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index fell 22.07 points, or 0.15 percent, to end the day at 15,097.84. Six of the 10 main sectors on the index were lower.
Grocery chain Metro Inc. lost 0.6 percent to 42.64 Canadian dollars after reporting lower same-store sales and third-quarter earnings that missed expectations.
Barrick Gold Corp declined 0.8 percent to 21.11 Canadian dollars, and Goldcorp Inc fell 0.5 percent to 16.23 Canadian dollars.
Base metals dropped 0.71 percent, gold fell 0.69 percent and materials dipped 0.57 percent. The Canadian dollar was trading lower at 78.4 U.S. cents.
On the economic front, data released on Tuesday showed lending to Canadian small businesses rose for a fifth straight month in June on stronger activity in construction and other major industries.
The Canadian Real Estate Association says the national average price for homes sold in July fell compared with a year ago, the first year-over-year drop since February 2013.
It adds that the average price for a home sold last month was 478,696 Canadian dollars, down 0.3 percent from July 2016, due to fewer sales in Toronto and Vancouver compared with last year.
