TORONTO, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Canada's main stock index slipped Monday as weak economic data weighed on investors' sentiments.
Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 53.32 points, or 0.39 percent, to 13,495.54 points, with the industrial sector shedding the most due to the decline in commodity prices.
The gains in the info-tech sector and the utilities sector, advancing 0.82 percent and 0.56 percent respectively, were offset by losses from other sectors.
The industrial sector, which was down 0.73 percent, leading the losses after the data released by Statistics Canada Monday showed that the Raw Materials Price Index fell 4.1 percent in November, the third consecutive monthly decline and the sharpest decrease since June 2012.
Teck Resources Limited, Canada's producer of steelmaking coal, copper, zinc and lead, lost 0.63 percent to 28.49 Canadian dollars.
As the real estate boom continues in Canada's largest cities, investors started to worry that the overheated housing market may prompt policy makers to take action soon.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Sunday that he would take further steps to tighten mortgage rules if the market needs cooling and also hinted that Canada would face pressure to raise interest rates in 2014.
His remarks weighed on the index, especially the financial sector, which lost 0.71 percent, with Canadian second largest lender, the Toronto-Dominion Bank, declining to 97.99 Canadian dollars by 0.87 percent.
In company news, BlackBerry Ltd.'s share price was up 5.19 percent to 8.51 Canadian dollars after the Canadian smartphone maker hired Ron Louks, Sony Ericsson executive, to run its devices business, tasking him with reigniting demand for the company's smartphones after years of market-share losses.
The Canadian dollar was down to 0.9388 U.S. dollar on Monday, compared with 0.9403 U.S. dollar in Friday's trading.
|
