A man walks past an old Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) sign in Toronto, June 23, 2014.Mark Blinch/Reuters
The Toronto stock market was little changed Tuesday with energy and mining stocks under pressure, as a strengthening U.S. dollar pushed commodity prices lower.
The S&P/TSX composite index edged up 3.94 points to 14,713.74.
It is a relatively quiet session with government offices, banks and Treasury markets closed for Remembrance Day in Canada and Veterans Day in the United States. On international markets, the Canadian dollar ticked 0.02 of a cent higher to 87.94 cents (U.S.).
U.S. indexes were in the red with the Dow Jones industrials down 19.63 points to 17,594.11, the Nasdaq was 10.01 points lower to 4,641.61 while the S&P 500 index slipped 2.23 points to 2,036.03.
The energy sector led TSX decliners, down 0.8 per cent while December oil returned to the four-year lows hit last week, down eight cents to $77.32 (U.S.) a barrel. Oil has plunged from $105 during the summer because of rising supplies and the higher American currency.
The higher greenback also pressured other commodities priced in U.S. dollars and December copper slipped two cents to $3 a pound, pushing the mining sector down 0.4 per cent.
The gold sector led advancers, up 2.25 per cent after falling six per cent on Monday. The December gold contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange faded $4.60 to $1,155.20 an ounce. Bullion prices have fallen steadily amid an end to the Federal Reserve's massive bond buying stimulus program, a steady flow of positive American economic data and a rising U.S. dollar.
The TSX gold sector has plunged 16 per cent in the last month alone as bullion's rapid drop in price has made it less economical for producers to extract the previous metal.
In corporate news, Imperial Oil Ltd. says its Kearl oil sands project will be shut down for several weeks as a precaution while the company deals with an equipment malfunction. Imperial didn't provide an estimate about how much production will be lost during that period or provide a target date for a startup. Its stock was down 82 cents to $53.30 (Canadian).
Engineering company WSP Global Inc. had $29.1-million of net income before adjustments in the third quarter, a 36 per cent increase over the comparable period last year. Revenue was $630.7-million, up 28.6 from a year earlier and its shares ticked 22 cents higher to $34.50.
Shares in auto parts maker Martinrea International Inc. plunged 17.2 per cent to $10.20. It said Monday afternoon that quarterly net earnings were $19.4-million or 23 cents per share. That was down from $20.9-million or 25 cents in the comparable year-earlier period. Revenue rose to a record $859.5-million from $767.9-million. Canaccord Genuity downgraded the stock to hold from buy and analyst David Tyerman also cut his price target on the stock to $11 from $17, noting that Martinrea's third quarter earnings came in below analyst estimates.
Aecon Group Inc. shares tumbled 9.4 per cent to $13.05 as quarterly net profits were $39.5-million or 49 cents per diluted share, up from $34.4-million or 53 cents in the same 2013 quarter. But revenue contracted to $840.4-million from $897.3-million, largely because of what the company said was longer than anticipated ramp-up on new projects as a result of external delays.