Canadian Stocks Inch Lower On Gloomy Economic Data -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are lower Wednesday morning, with investors reacting to a slew of downbeat Canadian and U.S. economic data.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada kept its policy rate unchanged at 1 percent, as widely expected.

Investors are also looking ahead to the European Central Bank's policy announcement, due on Thursday. It is widely expected that the bank will offer stimulus to spur inflation and jump-start the region's sluggish economy.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 14.70 points or 0.1 percent at 14,719.99, off the day's low of 14,670.03.

On Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 53.93 points or 0.37 percent at 14,734.69, extending gains to a third successive session.

TransCanada Corp. (TRP.TO) said its unit NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. has signed agreements with Chevron Canada Ltd.(CVX) and Apache Canada Ltd. for nearly 1.9 billion cubic feet per day of firm natural gas transportation services to strengthen the development of a major extension of TransCanada's NGTL System. Shares of TransCanada Corp. are down 0.4 percent.

DragonWave Inc. (DWI.TO) shares are up more than 28 percent after the company raised its revenue expectations for its first quarter fiscal year 2015 by over 60 percent from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014.

Westjet Airlines Ltd. (WJA.TO) is up nearly 1.5 percent after reporting a 4.8 percent increase in traffic in May 2014, on a capacity increase of 4.1%.

Mandalay Resources Corp. (MND.TO) announced said it would acquire Elgin Mining Inc. (ELG.TO) for a total value of C$70 million, to get hold of Eligin's Bjorkdal gold mine in Sweden. Mandalay Resources Corp. is down 4.4 percent, while Elgin Mining Inc.shares are rising over 65 percent.

Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ.TO) and Petrowest Corporation (PRW.TO) are moving up 4.5 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.

In commodities, crude futures for July delivery are up $0.83 or 0.81 percent at $103.49 a barrel.

The data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed U.S. crude stockpiles to have declined by a more than expected 3.4 million barrels in the week ended May 30.

Natural gas for July is down $0.009 or 0.18 percent at $4.621 per million btu.

Gold futures for August are up $1.20 or 0.1 percent $1,245.70 an ounce.

Silver for July is up $0.055 or 0.29 percent at $18.818 an ounce. Meanwhile, copper is down $0.046 or 1.46 percent at $3.091 per pound.

On the economic front, Canadian exports stood at C$42.83 billion in May, down from a revised C$43.63 billion in the previous month. Meanwhile, imports were up in April, coming in at $43.46 billion, compared to a revised C$42.86 billion in April.

In economic news from the U.S., private sector employment rose by 179,000 jobs in May following a downwardly revised increase of 215,000 jobs in April, payroll process ADP's report showed. Economists had been expecting an increase of about 210,000 jobs compared to the addition of 220,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

According to the data released by the Commerce Department, U.S. trade deficit widened to a more than expected $47.2 billion in April, from a revised $44.2 billion in March. Economists had expected the deficit to edge up to $41.0 billion from the $40.4 billion originally reported for the previous month.

The deficit reported for April reflects the largest U.S. trade deficit since the $47.8 billion deficit recorded in April of 2012.

The U.S. Labor Department's data showed labor productivity in the U.S. tumbled by a more than expected 3.2 percent in the first quarter, compared to the previously reported 1.7 percent drop. Economists had expected productivity to fall by a revised 2.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the results of the Institute for Supply Management's service sector survey showed its index of activity in the sector climbed to a better than expected 56.3 in May from 55.2 in April.

Investors are also looking ahead to the outcome of the Brussels Summit, hosted by the European Union. The summit ends on Thursday.