TSX Extending Losses On Continued Commodity Weakness -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is down again Thursday morning, adding to the losses of the previous two trading sessions. Weakness in commodity prices continues to weigh on the market. Mining and energy stocks are among the weakest performers in early trade. Healthcare and financial stocks are also notably lower, making the selling pressure fairly broad based.

European markets are trading solidly to the downside Thursday. The market opened notably lower and have been trading on a markedly weaker note ahead of tomorrow's Good Friday holiday. The resource space is spearheading the weakness, as the dollar strengthens and economic uncertainty intensifies.

Markets in the United States are also trading modestly to the downside Thursday morning, extending the pullback seen in the previous session. Traders appear poised to cash in on some of the recent strength in the markets ahead of the long weekend.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 66.75 points or 0.50 percent at 13,312.73.

On Wednesday, the index closed down 114.01 points or 0.84 percent, at 13,379.48. The index scaled an intraday high of 13,503.14 and a low of 13,364.98.

The Capped Health Care Index is lower by 2.04 percent. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX.TO) is losing 3.87 percent.

Concordia Healthcare (CXR.TO) is sinking 9.92 percent. The company reported fourth quarter adjusted EPS of $1.24 after the close Wednesday, up from $0.68 a year ago. Full year 2016 adjusted EPS is expected to be between $6.29 and $6.77. The consensus estimate is for EPS of $6.66.

The Diversified Metal and Mining Index is dropping 2.10 percent. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is falling 0.14 percent and Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) is down 1.46 percent. HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO) is decreasing 1.37 percent and Capstone Mining (CS.TO) is falling 1.85 percent. Teck Resources (TCK-B.TO) is declining 4.15 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index is decreasing 1.36 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is losing 1.60 percent and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is falling 1.64 percent. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is decreasing 2.72 percent and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is weakening by 1.44 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is surrendering 1.06 percent and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is down 1.30 percent.

The Energy Index is down 0.93 percent. Crude oil prices are falling Thursday morning as the US dollar continued to strengthen versus major rivals.

Yesterday's report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration also showed that U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly jumped yet again last week, defying speculation that the nation's supply glut may have eased.

Encana (ECA.TO) is weakening by 1.83 percent and Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) is falling 2.63 percent. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is losing 0.75 percent and Canadian Oil Sands (COS.TO) is decreasing 2.36 percent. Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is lower by 0.84 percent and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is declining 0.54 percent. Pacific Exploration & Production (PRE.TO) is tumbling 4.23 percent.

The Capped Information Technology Index is falling 0.56 percent. Constellation Software (CSU.TO) is lower by 0.11 percent and BlackBerry (BB.TO) is dropping 1.97 percent. Avigilon (AVO.TO) is declining 2.50 percent and Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) is down 0.46 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index is losing 0.08 percent. Bombardier (BBD-B.TO) is dropping 2.27 percent and Air Canada (AC.TO) is decreasing 1.61 percent. AutoCanada (ACQ.TO) is falling 1.09 percent and Finning International (FTT.TO) is down 1.16 percent.

The Gold Index is gaining 1.78 percent. Gold prices continue to fall Thursday morning as a stronger U.S. dollar hurt most commodities.

IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is advancing 2.61 percent and Goldcorp (G.TO) is rising 2.50 percent. B2Gold (BTO.TO) is gaining 2.45 percent and Kinross Gold (K.TO) is climbing 2.84 percent. Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is increasing 2.17 percent and Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is up 1.84 percent. Royal Gold (RGL.TO) is higher by 0.92 percent.

Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is falling 3.11 percent, after it reported a loss of $1.24 billion in the fourth quarter, compared to $13.9 million in the same period last year.

The Capped Materials Index is also up 0.73 percent. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is advancing 1.92 percent and Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is rising 2.27 percent. Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) is gaining 2.36 percent.

The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is gaining 0.13 percent. Manitoba Telecom Services (MBT.TO) is rising 0.12 percent and BCE (BCE.TO) is up 0.39 percent.

Power Corporation of Canada (POW.TO) announced earnings for fourth quarter that dropped 16 percent compared to the same period last year. The stock is down 1.91 percent.

On the economic front, German consumer confidence is set to fall in April as global risks dampen economic outlook and consumers turn less optimistic about income expectations. The forward-looking consumer sentiment index dropped to 9.4 from 9.5 points in March, survey data from market research group GfK showed Thursday. It was forecast to remain unchanged at 9.5.

Germany's import prices decreased at the fastest rate in more than six years during February, as lower energy prices continued to dampen inflationary pressures, preliminary data from Destatis showed Thursday. The import price index dropped 5.7 percent year-on-year following 3.8 percent decline in January. Economists were looking for a 5.1 percent fall.

New orders received by the German construction sector increased in January and the order value was the highest since April 2002, Destatis said Thursday. Construction orders grew 1 percent from the previous month. Year-on-year, the increase was 12.6 percent on an adjusted basis.

France's manufacturing confidence unexpectedly weakened for the first time in four months in March, as the assessment on order book levels and businesses' expectations on their production deteriorated, survey results from INSEE showed Thursday. The confidence index for the manufacturing industry dropped to 101 from 103 in both January and February. Economists had expected the index to hold steady at 103.

British retail sales declined at a slower than expected pace in February, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed Thursday. Retail sales volume dropped 0.4 percent month-on-month reversing January's 2.3 percent growth. This was slower than an expected 0.7 percent decrease.

U.K. mortgage approvals declined in February, defying expectations for a modest increase, figures from the British Bankers' Association showed Thursday. The number of loans approved for house purchase fell to 45,892 from 46,916 in January, which was highest in nearly two years. Economists had forecast 47,900 approvals for February.

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits saw a modest increase in the week ended March 19th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The report said initial jobless claims edged up to 265,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's downwardly revised level of 259,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 268,000 from the 265,000 originally reported for the previous week.

After reporting a significant rebound in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing that durable goods orders pulled back in the month of February.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders fell by 2.8 percent in February after surging up by a revised 4.2 percent in January. Economists had expected durable goods orders to drop by 3.0 percent compared to the 4.7 percent jump that had been reported for the previous month.

In commodities, crude oil futures for April delivery are down 1.13 or 2.84 percent at $38.66 a barrel.

Natural gas for April is down 0.002 or 0.11 percent at $1.792 per million btu.

Gold futures for April are down $3.30 or 0.27 percent at $1,220.70 an ounce.

Silver for May is up $0.033 or 0.22 percent at $15.305 an ounce.