Friday, 13 March 2015 20:00
TORONTO: Canada’s main stock index fell on Friday as renewed concern about oversupply weighed on oil prices, sending shares of energy producers lower.
Oil’s latest drop was driven by a report from the International Energy Agency that cautioned that the global supply glut was showing no signs of abating.
The Toronto stock market’s benchmark TSX index looked on track for a 2 percent fall this week.
Global equity markets have been under pressure since a bullish US jobs report last Friday fueled worries that the US Federal Reserve might advance its timetable for raising interest rates.
“We’ve had a rough week, fueled by a lot of volatility,” said Victor Kuntzevitsky, associate at Northland Wealth Management, who said he was concerned about the weakness surrounding the energy sector and the lower Canadian dollar.
“Oil inventories are really high compared with historical levels,” he said, adding that his firm has recently exited most of its energy holdings.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 106.82 points, or 0.72 percent, at 14,663.90. Eight of the 10 main sectors on the index were in the red.
Financials, the index’s most heavily weighted sector, declined 0.6 percent.
Toronto-Dominion Bank lost 0.9 percent to C$ 53.40, and Royal Bank of Canada shed 0.8 percent to C$ 75.73.
In the energy sector, Suncor Energy Inc gave back 1.3 percent to C$ 34.91, and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd fell 1.5 percent to C$ 35.82.
Copyright Reuters, 2015
