Canadian Stocks Are Declining On Global Weakness -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is falling in early trade Friday, adding to its losses from the previous session. Global markets are sinking at the end of the trading week on continued Greek concerns and weakness in China, due to concerns about new trading regulations. Chinese regulators reportedly expanded the supply of shares available for short sellers while clamping down on over-the-counter margin trading.

Markets in Europe are trading solidly in negative territory Friday. Concerns over a potential Greek default and a Greek exit of the Eurozone are weighing on investor sentiment. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble refused further concessions to Greece and the International Monetary Fund ruled out giving the country any leeway on 1 billion euros of debt repayments due by early May.

Markets in the United States are also down Friday morning. The Greek and China concerns are having a negative impact on the U.S. markets. Traders are also digesting the latest batch of economic data, including the report on consumer prices, which rose by slightly less than expected in March.

While the Labor Department released a report on Friday showing another modest increase in U.S. consumer prices in the month of March, prices rose by slightly less than economists had anticipated. The Labor Department said its consumer price index edged up by 0.2 percent in March, matching the increase seen in February. Economists had expected the index to rise by 0.3 percent.

Consumer sentiment in the U.S. has improved by more than expected in the month of April, according to a report released by the University of Michigan on Friday. The report showed that the preliminary reading on the consumer sentiment index for April came in at 95.9 compared to the final March reading of 93.0. Economists had expected the index to edge up to 94.0.

The Conference Board released a report Friday morning showing a continued increase by its index of leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of March, although the index rose by less than economists had expected. The report said the leading economic index increased by 0.2 percent in March following a downwardly revised 0.1 percent uptick in February.

Economists had been expecting the index to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.2 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 55.03 points or 0.36 percent at 15,331.74.

On Thursday, the index closed down 64.10 points or 0.41 percent, at 15,386.77. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,454.25 and a low of 15,324.96.

The Energy Index is decreasing by 0.43 percent. Crude oil prices were lower Friday morning amid concerns about massive global inventories.

Encana (ECA.TO) is losing 0.38 percent and Legacy Oil + Gas (LEG.TO) is falling by 1.15 percent. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is down 0.48 percent. Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is declining by 0.20 percent and Tourmaline Oil (TOU.TO) is weaker by 0.42 percent.

The Diversified Metal and Mining Index is falling by 0.94 percent. Finning International (FTT.TO) is losing 0.92 percent and Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) is down 1.76 percent. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is declining by 1.81 percent and Capstone Mining (CS.TO) is lower by 0.74 percent.

The Gold Index is rising by 0.94 percent. Goldcorp (G.TO) is increasing by 0.62 percent and Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is climbing by 1.86 percent. Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is gaining 1.82 percent and Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is up 0.16 percent. IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is advancing 1.16 percent and Royal Gold (RGL.TO) is adding 1.88 percent.

The Capped Materials Index is also higher by 0.09 percent. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is rising by 1.61 percent and Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is up 1.48 percent. Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) is also higher by 2.60 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index is down 0.48 percent. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is lower by 0.08 percent and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is falling by 0.19 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) declining 0.64 percent and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is down 0.70 percent. Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is lower by 0.19 percent.

The Capped Health Care Index is declining by 0.93 percent. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX.TO) is lower by 0.90 percent and Catamaran (CCT.TO) is losing 0.34 percent. Concordia Healthcare (CXR.TO) is also decreasing by 1.11 percent.

The Capped Information Technology Index is lower by 1.30 percent. Constellation Software (CSU.TO) is declining by 0.58 percent and BlackBerry (BB.TO) is lower by 0.83 percent. Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) is also sinking by 1.91 percent.

The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is falling by 1.42 percent. Manitoba Telecom Services (MBT.TO) is losing 1.03 percent and TELUS (T.TO) is decreasing by 0.68 percent. Rogers Communication (RCI-A.TO) is down 1.86 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index is declining by 0.42 percent. Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is falling by 0.40 percent and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is losing 0.15 percent. Bombardier (BBD-A.TO) is lower by 1.44 percent and Air Canada (AC.TO) is down 1.23 percent.

Data Group (DGI.TO) is dropping by 15.79 percent, after Michael Suksi stepped down as its President and CEO.

Oncolytics Biotech (ONC.TO) is up 5.88 percent, after it received an orphan drug designation from the U.S. FDA for REOLYSIN, for the treatment of malignant glioma.

Aecon Group (ARE.TO) is advancing by 3.39 percent, after it was awarded two contracts valued at approximately $110 million.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed that Canada's consumer price index rose 1.2 percent on year in March, after increasing 1.0 percent in February. The index was expected to remain unchanged from last month.

The Bank of Canada's core consumer price index rose to 2.4 percent, exceeding expectations of 2.1 percent.

Separate data showed that retail sales spiked up by 1.7 percent to C$42.2 billion in February. The figures exceeded expectations for an increase of 0.5 percent. The January reading was revised up to -1.4 percent.

Eurozone's consumer prices declined in March from a year ago, as estimated earlier, but prices rose from the previous month at the fastest rate in two years, latest figures from the statistical office Eurostat showed Friday.

The harmonized index of consumer prices dropped 0.1 percent annually after a 0.3 percent decline in February. That was in line with the flash estimate released by Eurostat on March 31. Prices decreased for the fourth consecutive month.

The euro area current account surplus declined in February largely due to a decrease in primary income, data published by the European Central Bank showed Friday. The current account surplus dropped to a seasonally adjusted EUR 26.4 billion from EUR 30.4 billion in January.

The U.K. unemployment rate fell to the lowest since 2008 and claimant count reached a 40-year low, labor market statistics released ahead of the General Elections showed Friday. The ILO jobless rate eased to 5.6 percent in three months to February from 5.8 percent in September to November, the Office for National Statistics said. The rate was the lowest since 2008 and matched economists' expectations.

In commodities, crude oil futures for May delivery are down $0.21 or 0.37 percent at $56.50 a barrel.

Natural gas for May is down $0.023 or 0.86 percent at $2.661 per million btu.

Gold futures for June are up $5.70 or 0.48 percent at $1,203.70 an ounce.

Silver for May is down $0.009 or 0.06 percent at $16.275 an ounce.