Canadian Stocks Are Down On Global Economic Fears -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is down again in early trade Friday, extending its losses from the previous four trading sessions. Weakness in commodity prices and continued concerns over the global economy continue to weigh on investor sentiment.

The majority of the Canadian sectors are trading in the red this morning. Gold and mining stocks, which have provided some support during the last few days of trade, are among the weakest performing stocks Friday.

Markets in Europe are under pressure at the end of the trading week. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras tendered his resignation late Thursday, paving the way for snap elections next month, in a move to quell a rebellion in his leftist Syriza party. Weak manufacturing data from China and the continued sell-off in the Chinese stock market added to the negative mood.

Markets in the United States are also trading to the downside Friday morning. Concerns about the outlook for the global economy continues to weigh on investor sentiment, after the Shanghai Composite Index plunged by another 4.3 percent.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 131.67 points or 0.96 percent at 13,605.33.

On Thursday, the index closed down 299.63 points or 2.13 percent, at 13,737.00. The index scaled an intraday high of 14,022.14 and a low of 13,736.96.

The Gold Index is declining by 1.92 percent. Gold prices were flat Friday morning, unable to extend big recent gains despite mounting evidence that China is having a rough patch economically.

Kinross Gold (K.TO) is decreasing by 2.49 percent and Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is lower by 4.76 percent. B2Gold (BTO.TO) is losing 5.65 percent and Royal Gold (RGL.TO) is falling by 2.62 percent. IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is weakening by 4.74 percent.

Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is sinking by 10.75 percent. The company will stop mining in northern Greece. The leftist Greek government temporarily halted activity at some of the company's operations earlier in the week.

The Capped Materials Index is also down 1.76 percent. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is falling by 2.31 percent and Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is losing 0.92 percent. Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) is declining by 0.99 percent and Agrium (AGU.TO) is lower by 2.36 percent. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan is also decreasing by 1.37 percent.

The Diversified Metal and Mining Index is declining by 1.75 percent. HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO) is losing 0.60 percent and Capstone Mining (CS.TO) is falling by 1.43 percent. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is surrendering 0.41 percent and Teck Resources (TCK-A.TO) is down 4.43 percent. Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) is also lower by 3.69 percent.

The Capped Health Care Index is falling by 1.60 percent. Concordia Healthcare (CXR.TO) is declining by 3.14 percent and Extendicare (EXE.TO) is losing 0.26 percent. Valeant Pharmaceutical International (VRX.TO) is weakening by 1.75 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index is down 1.07 percent. Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is falling by 1.98 percent and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is losing 1.40 percent. AutoCanada (ACQ.TO) is declining by 2.02 percent and Finning International (FTT.TO) is lower by 0.63 percent. Air Canada (AC.TO) is decreasing by 3.60 percent.

The Energy Index is decreasing by 1.07 percent. Crude oil prices were slightly lower Friday morning, near their lowest in more than five years, on concerns about the global economy. Analysts say markets are oversupplied and demand from China is dwindling.

Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) is down 3.98 percent and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is dipping by 0.24 percent. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is down 2.40 percent and Encana (ECA.TO) is decreasing by 1.82 percent. Pacific Exploration & Production (PRE.TO) is surrendering 2.87 percent and Canadian Oil Sands (COS.TO) is weakening by 0.65 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index is weakening by 0.68 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is declining by 0.67 percent and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is down 0.63 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is falling by 0.50 percent and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is losing 0.41 percent. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is decreasing by 0.70 percent and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is surrendering 0.84 percent.

The Capped Information Technology Index is losing 0.34 percent. Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) is falling by 0.75 percent and BlackBerry (BB.TO) is down 2.17 percent. Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) is declining by 0.77 percent and Avigilon (AVO.TO) is lower by 1.32 percent.

The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is climbing by 0.82 percent. TELUS (T.TO) is up 0.52 percent and BCE (BCE.TO) is gaining 1.32 percent. Rogers Communication (RCI-A.TO) is rising by 2.06 percent.

CGI Group Inc. (GIB-A.TO) is up 0.76 percent, after it won a US$124 million, five-year contract with the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Intelligence Directorate.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed that the nation's retail sales increased 0.6 percent on a monthly basis to C$43.2 billion in June. This was higher than the expected reading of 0.2 percent, following a 1.0 percent rise a month earlier.

Core retail sales grew by 0.8 percent - also topping forecasts for 0.6 percent, after recording a 0.9 percent rise in the previous month.

Separate data showed that Canada's consumer price index increased 1.3 percent on year in July, matching expectations. Economists were forecasting a reading of 1.0 percent.

On a monthly basis, the CPI edged up 0.1 percent, in line with what the economists had expected. In June, the consumer prices rose 0.2 percent.

The manufacturing sector in China continued to struggle in August as the contraction accelerated, a preliminary survey from Caixin showed on Friday, with a Performance of Manufacturing Index score of 47.1. That's down from 47.8 in July, and it represents a 77-month low.

Eurozone consumer confidence strengthened for the first time in five months during August, preliminary data from the European Commission revealed Friday. The flash consumer confidence index for the euro area rose to -6.8 from July's -7.1. Economists had expected a -6.9 reading.

Eurozone private sector growth improved in August underpinned by German activity, while the expansion in France eased to a four-month low, signaling the widening divergence between two largest euro area economies.

At 54.1, the flash Purchasing Managers' Index ticked higher from July's final reading of 53.9 and remained at an expansionary level for the twenty-sixth successive month, preliminary data from Markit Economics showed Friday.

The pace of increase was one of the fastest seen over the past four years and stayed above the expected level of 53.7.

Germany's private sector grew at the fastest pace in four months in August, flash survey data from Markit revealed Friday. The flash composite output index rose to 54 in August from 53.7 in July. The reading reached a 4-month high in August.

The French private sector growth slowed to a 4-month low in August, flash survey data from Markit Economics showed Friday. The composite output index fell to a 4-month low of 51.3 in August from 51.5 in July.

German consumer sentiment is set to drop unexpectedly in September, as economic and income expectations floundered despite Greece reaching an agreement on a controversial debt deal. The forward-looking consumer sentiment index fell to 9.9 in September from 10.1 in August, survey data from market research group GfK showed Friday. Economists had forecast it to remain unchanged at 10.1.

The U.K. logged its first July budget surplus since 2012, the Office for National Statistics showed Friday. Public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks decreased by GBP 1.4 billion to a surplus of GBP 1.3 billion or equivalent to -0.1 percent of gross domestic product in July.

This was the first reported July surplus since 2012. Economists had forecast a surplus of GBP 1.1 billion.

British households perceive that the value of their home increased in August, a survey from Knight Frank and Markit Economic showed Friday. The house price sentiment index, or HPSI, rose to 59.5 in August from 58.6 in the previous month. This marked the twenty-ninth successive month of the index remaining above 50.

In commodities, crude oil futures for September delivery are down $0.39 or 0.94 percent at $40.93 a barrel.

Natural gas for September is down 0.04 or 1.45 percent at $2.715 per million btu.

Gold futures for December are down $2.50 or 0.22 percent at $1,150.70 an ounce.

Silver for September is down $0.372 or 2.40 percent at $15.145 an ounce.