TSX Recovers After Weak Start -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are slightly higher Tuesday mid morning, after struggling early on in the session amid concerns about the global economy.

A weak report from euro zone that showed a notable drop in Germany's industrial output in August and a downward revision in China's growth outlook by the World Bank set up a lower opening for the Canadian market.

However, with a few stocks bouncing back on bargain hunting, the market has slowly edged up into positive territory. However, with the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's September policy meeting due tomorrow, the mood is somewhat cautious.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 2.20 points or 0.02 percent at 14,745.32, coming off an early low of 14,671.92.

On Monday, the index closed down 46.66 points or 0.32 percent at 14,743.12, after rising to a intraday high of 14,878.67.

Among big six banks, Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) are up by about 0.4 percent, while the rest are little changed from previous closing levels.

The Industrial Index is down more than 1 percent with Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP.TO), Canadian National Railway Company (CNR.TO) and Stantec Inc. (STN.TO) declining 1.5 to 2 percent. Finning International Inc. (FTT.TO) is down nearly 1 percent.

CAE Inc. (CAE.TO) is up nearly 1.5 percent after signing a joint venture agreement with Japan Airlines to provide flight crew training services across Northeast Asia, excluding China.

The Healthcare Index is down by about 1 percent. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (VRX.TO) and Extendicare Inc. (EXE.TO) are lower by about 1.5 percent, while Catamaran Corporation (CCT.TO) is down marginally.

The Diversified Metals & Mining Index is down nearly 0.5 percent. Lundin Mining Corporation (LUN.TO) is declining more than 3 percent, Capstone Mining Corp. (CS.TO) is down 2 percent and Teck Resources Limited (TCK.B.TO) is lower by 1.3 percent. Meanwhile, Major Drilling Group International Inc. (MDI.TO) is moving up nearly 2 percent.

The Capped Materials Index is down 0.55 percent. Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) is down 3.3 percent and and B2Gold Corp. (BTO.TO) is declining more than 3 percent. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), GoldCorp Inc. (G.TO) and Silver Wheaton Corp. (SLW.TO) are lower by 0.5 to 1 percent. Meanwhile, Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO) is up nearly 2 percent.

The Energy Index is lower by 0.4 percent. Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Husky Energy (HSE.TO) and Canadian Oil Sands (COS.TO) are down 0.5 to 1.5 percent.

Cameco Corp. (CCO.TO) announced that unionized employees at the McArthur River mine and Key Lake mill operations have voted to accept a new collective agreement. The contract provides a 12 percent wage increase over the term of the agreement which expires on December 31, 2017. The stock is down 1.8 percent.

DHX Media Ltd. (DHX.TO) is up nearly 1 percent after the company announced that it will produce a new preschool series with Ragdoll Productions called Twirlywoos for CBeebies, the children's arm of the BBC. Besides producing the series, DHX will handle the global distribution, merchandising, brand management and marketing jobs as well.

In commodities, crude oil futures for November delivery are down $0.90 or 1.00 percent at $89.44 a barrel ahead of weekly oil reports.

Natural gas for November is up $0.029 or 0.76 percent at $3.928 per million btu.

Gold futures for December are up $4.30 or 0.36 percent at $1,211.60 an ounce.

Silver for December is down $0.013 or 0.08 percent at $17.212 an ounce. Meanwhile, copper is down $0.004 or 0.14 percent at $3.031 per pound.

On the economic front, data released by Statistics Canada showed new building permits in Canada to have declined by a much bigger than expected 27.3 percent in August, compared to a revised 11.6 percent increase in the preceding month.

In economic news from euro zone, German industrial production declined at the fastest pace since January 2009, falling 4 percent month-on-month in August, underlining that the largest euro area economy is moving further down after contracting in the second quarter.

On Monday, the World Bank had slashed its growth outlook for China to 7.4 percent this year, from a previous forecast of 7.6 percent.