TSX Ends Flat On Global Cues -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks ended a tad lower lower on Tuesday, tracking declining global equity markets amid some disappointing Canadian and eurozone economic data, even as geopolitical tensions over developments in the Middle East weighed on markets.

A disappointing report from Statistics Canada showed retail sales to have unexpectedly dropped by 0.1 percent to CS$42.5 billion on month in July, halting its six consecutive monthly gains, has raised concerns about the domestic economy.

Geopolitical tensions also weighed on the market, with the U.S. and its Arab allies launching airstrikes on Islamic militants in Syria. Meanwhile, there were news reports that the Israeli military shot down a Syrian fighter jet in its airspace over the Golan Heights.

An encouraging report on Chinese manufacturing sector aided sentiment, although investors continued to remain concerned over the performance of the Chinese economy. Nonetheless, a report from Markit Economics showed the nation's manufacturing sector to have expanded at an accelerated pace in September.

The main index was driven mainly by mining and energy stocks, tracking higher commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 6.35 points or 0.04 percent at 15,135.35. Earlier, after declining to 15,089.41, the index rose to 15,171.00.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed Tuesday at 15,125.67, down 3.33 points or 0.02 percent. The index scaled a intraday high of 15,171.00 and a low of 15,089.41.

On Monday, the index closed down 136.35 points or 0.89 percent at 15,129.00, after suffering a sharp loss of almost 1.3 percent a session earlier.

Crude oil snapped a four-day loss to end higher on geopolitical concerns and a fairly encouraging report on the Chinese manufacturing sector, even as the dollar trended lower against some major currencies.

The Energy Index added 0.44 percent, with U.S. crude oil futures for November delivery gaining $0.69 or 0.8 percent to close at $91.52 a barrel Tuesday on the Nymex.

Among energy stocks, Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) added 1.10 percent, Suncor Energy Inc. (SU.TO) fell 0.22 percent, Encana Corp. (ECA.TO) gained 0.68 percent, Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM.TO) jumped 4.58 percent, and Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ.TO) moved up 0.85 percent.

Enbridge Inc. (ENB.TO) declined 0.83 percent after revealing an agreement with Enbridge Income Fund to transfer a package of natural gas and diluent pipeline interests to the Fund for total consideration of $1.76 billion.

TransCanada Corp. (TRP.TO) dropped 1.78 percent.

The Financial Index shed 0.27 percent, with Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) gaining 0.14 percent, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) dipping 0.29 percent, Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) down 0.52 percent, Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) down 0.38 percent, National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) fell 1.12 percent, and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) slipped 0.17 percent.

Manulife Financial Corp. (MFC.TO) shed 0.77 percent, while Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF.TO) dropped 0.79 percent.

Gold futures ended higher as investors sought the safe haven appeal of the metal with the riskier equity assets declining globally, supported by a lackluster dollar.

The Global Gold Index jumped 2.29 percent, with gold for December delivery gaining $4.10 or 0.3 percent to settle at $1,222.00 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday.

Among gold stocks, Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) added 1.48 percent, B2Gold Corp. (BTO.TO) gathered 3.11 percent, Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI.TO) moved up 0.83 percent, Eldorado Gold Corp. (ELD.TO) jumped 4.53 percent, and Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO) gained 1.12 percent.

The Capped Materials Index gained 1.28 percent mostly on rising gold stocks, with Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (POT.TO) adding 0.34 percent.

The Diversified Metals & Mining Index fell 1.89 percent, with First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.TO) up 0.09 percent, Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN.TO) gained 0.91 percent, and Teck Resources Limited (TCK.B.TO) added 1.20 percent.

The Capped Industrial Index dropped 0.40 percent, with Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) up 0.29 percent and Air Canada (AC.B.TO) inching up 0.12 percent.

Shares of automotive supplier Magna International Inc. (MG.TO) gained 1.67 percent, with the company announcing the set up two new facilities in the Sanand region of the state of Gujarat, India, aiming to expand its global engineering and manufacturing footprint.

The Information Technology Index fell 0.39 percent, with BlackBerry Limited (BB.TO) down 2.90 percent.

Constellation Software Inc. (CSU.TO) gained 1.10 percent. The company said its wholly-owned subsidiary Volaris Group has acquired Incognito Software Inc. and Interactive Enterprises Inc., a communications Operations Support Systems or OSS solutions business.

Among other tech stocks, Avigilon Corp. (AVO.TO) dipped 1.26 percent after announcing the introduction of its new series of HD Dome and HD Bullet cameras with embedded adaptive video analytics.

The Consumer Staples Index gained 0.45 percent, with Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ATD.B.TO) gathering 3.27 percent and Metro Inc. (MRU.TO) adding 0.38 percent.

The Healthcare Index surrendered 0.29 percent, with Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (VRX.TO) inched down 0.02 percent, Extendicare Inc. (EXE.TO) added 0.36 percent and Catamaran Corp. (CCT.TO) down 1.28 percent.

The Telecom Index added 0.26 percent with Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI.B.TO) inching up 0.02 percent and BCE Inc. (BCE.TO) up 0.23 percent after revealing the successful completion of the initial phase of its offers to purchase all outstanding Bell Aliant Inc. (BA.TO) common shares and exchange all outstanding Bell Aliant preferred shares. BCE added 0.59 percent, while shares of Bell Alliant Inc. gathered 1.33 percent.

Industrial stock CAE Inc. (CAE.TO) is down 0.66 percent, after revealing the award of a series of contracts worth around C$115 million to provide a range of training systems and services for global defense and security customers.

Orbit Garant Drilling Inc. (OGD.TO) gained 1.54 percent after reporting a fourth-quarter net loss of $0.8 million or $0.02 per share, narrower than $27.6 million or $0.83 per share in the comparable quarter last year. The stock is unchanged from previous closing price.

In economic news from Asia, China's manufacturing sector expanded at an accelerated pace in September, coming in with a score of 50.5, the preliminary PMI reading from HSBC and Markit Economics revealed on Tuesday. That was up from 50 .2 in August.

From the eurozone, the German private sector expanded for the 17th straight month, while business confidence in France weakened slightly in September.

However, eurozone business activity in September grew at its slowest pace this year. The composite output index of the purchasing managers' survey fell to a nine-month low of 52.3 in September from 52.5 in August, preliminary data from Markit Economics showed Tuesday. The reading was expected to remain unchanged at 52.5.