Canadian Stocks Move Mostly Lower After Seeing Initial Strength

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks saw initial strength during trading on Wednesday but moved to the downside over the course of the session.

After ending the previous session little changed, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 86.42 points or 0.4 percent to 20,499.31.

The initial strength came following the release of a report showing a modest slowdown in the annual rate of U.S. consumer price growth in the month of April.

Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as traders worry the slowdown in the pace of price growth is partly due to the U.S. heading for a recession.

The subsequent pullback was partly due to weakness among energy stocks, with the S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index slumping by 1.6 percent.

Energy stocks moved lower along with the price of crude oil, as crude for June delivery tumbled $1.15 to $72.56 a barrel following a report showing an unexpected weekly increase in U.S. crude oil inventories.

Considerable weakness also emerged among materials stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent drop by the S&P/TSX Capped Materials Index.

Utilities and consumer staple stocks also saw some weakness on the day, while industrial stocks moved to the upside.