Canadian Stocks Are Up Slightly In Cautious Trade -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is holding onto modest gains Wednesday morning, but is off its early highs. Investors are in a cautious mood ahead of Thursday's U.K. referendum on whether it will remain a member of the European Union. The issue has been responsible for much of the volatility in global markets in recent weeks and polls indicate that it is still too close to call.

Markets in Europe are climbing for a fourth consecutive session Wednesday. Today's gains are more on the modest side ahead of Thursday's UK-wide referendum to decide the country's future in the European Union.

Markets in the United States are posting slight gains in early trade Wednesday. Tomorrow's referendum on whether Britain will remain in the European Union is keeping some traders on the sidelines. Investors are also closely monitoring Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 8.53 points or 0.06 percent at 14,020.85.

On Tuesday, the index closed down 2.82 points or 0.02 percent, at 14,012.32. The index scaled an intraday high of 14,049.22 and a low of 13,956.88.

The Capped Industrials Index is rising 0.60 percent. AutoCanada (ACQ.TO) is up 0.09 percent and Air Canada (AC.TO) is climbing 0.63 percent. Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is gaining 0.15 percent and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is increasing 2.13 percent. Finning International (FTT.TO) is higher by 0.58 percent.

The Capped Healthcare Index is gaining 0.60 percent. Concordia Healthcare (CXR.TO) is up 2.36 percent and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX.TO) is gaining 1.37 percent. Extendicare (EXE.TO) is also adding 0.37 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index is increasing 0.53 percent. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is rising 0.08 percent and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is climbing by 0.75 percent. Toronto Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is gaining 0.69 percent and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is adding 0.59 percent. Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is up 0.24 percent and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is advancing 0.31 percent.

The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is up 0.23 percent. Manitoba Telecom Services (MBT.TO) is rising 0.27 percent and BCE (BCE.TO) is increasing 0.13 percent. TELUS (T.TO) is gaining 0.14 percent and Rogers Communication (RCI-B.TO) is higher by 0.23 percent.

The Capped Information Technology Index is rising 0.06 percent. Constellation Software (CSU.TO) is climbing 0.11 percent and Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) is up 0.59 percent.

The Diversified Metal and Mining Index is declining 1.03 percent. HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO) is decreasing 0.77 percent and Teck Resources (TCK-B.TO) is weakening by 1.21 percent. Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) is losing 0.69 percent.

The Energy Index is down 0.72 percent. Crude oil prices have risen back above $50 a barrel this morning. US crude inventories fell 5.2-million barrels, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said on Tuesday, far more than analysts expected.

The U.S. EIA reported this morning that U.S. crude inventories dropped by 900,000 barrels last week.

Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is losing 1.70 percent and Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) is decreasing 0.34 percent. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is declining 1.47 percent and Husky Energy (HSE.TO) is lower by 0.52 percent. Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) is down 0.62 percent .

Encana (ECA.TO) is falling 1.95 percent. The Globe and Mail reports that the company has agreed to sell oil and natural gas assets to Birchcliff Energy Ltd. for $625 million.

Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is slipping 0.35 percent. The company reportedly plans to make acquisitions in the North Sea and Eastern Canada.

The Gold Index is lower by 0.70 percent. Gold futures are nearly flat Wednesday morning after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's murky outlook for the economy and interest rates.

Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is falling 0.41 percent and B2Gold (BTO.TO) is losing 0.72 percent. Goldcorp (G.TO) is weakening by 0.22 percent and Royal Gold (RGL.TO) is lower by 1.42 percent. Kinross Gold (K.TO) is down 1.15 percent and IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is decreasing 1.64 percent. Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is declining 0.38 percent and Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is surrendering 0.17 percent.

The Capped Materials Index is also down 0.51 percent. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is declining 0.99 percent and Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is forfeiting 0.52 percent. Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) is decreasing 1.24 percent.

TransGlobe Energy (TGL.TO) is surging 5.94 percent. The company announced that it has increased guidance for second-quarter production to 11,400 barrels of oil per day or Bopd, from previous guidance of 10,800 Bopd.

Lumenpulse (LMP.TO) is sinking 5.26 percent. The company reported a fourth quarter adjusted loss of C$0.09 per share compared to the profit of C$0.04 per share last year.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed that Canada's retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.9 percent to C$44.3 billion in April. That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.8 percent, after a 1.0 percent drop in March.

Core retail sales, excluding motor vehicle and autos, climbed 1.3 percent on month, following a 0.3 percent decline a month earlier. Economists were looking for a 0.6 percent rise.

Eurozone consumer confidence deteriorated for the first time in three months in June, defying expectations for stability, preliminary data from the European Commission showed Wednesday. The flash consumer confidence index declined to -7.3 from -7 in May. Economists had expected the score to remain unchanged.

Existing home sales in the U.S. sprang to their highest level in over nine years in the month of May, the National Association of Realtors revealed in a report on Wednesday. NAR said existing home sales rose by 1.8 percent to an annual rate of 5.53 million in May from a downwardly revised 5.43 million in April.

Economists had expected existing home sales to climb 2.2 percent to a rate of 5.57 million from the 5.45 million originally reported for the previous month.

In commodities, crude oil futures for July delivery are up 0.42 or 0.84 percent at $50.27 a barrel.

Natural gas for July is down 0.009 or 0.33 percent at $2.759 per million btu.

Gold futures for August are down $3.10 or 0.24 percent at $1,269.40 an ounce.

Silver for July is down $0.004 or 0.02 percent at $17.315 an ounce.