Canadian stocks drop as commodity prices fall

Canadian stocks sagged as commodities fell. The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed 138.14 points, or 1.16 percent, lower at 11,797.94 on Tuesday.

Eleven out of twelve sectors on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) registered losses on Tuesday with the index measuring the diversified metals & mining sector losing 3.23 percent.

The Health Care sector was the only sector that gained. Copper producer Quadra FNX Mining Ltd. tumbled 6.89 percent. Inmet Mining Corp. declined 5.41 percent.

Crude oil for August delivery slipped 0.78 percent to 77.21 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday. The index measuring the energy sector on the TSX reduced 2.30 percent.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country's second largest energy producer by market value, dropped 2.87 percent. Crude oil is Canada's largest export.

The index measuring the health care sector on the TSX rose 3.34 percent. Biovail Corp., Canada's largest public-traded medicine producer, rallied 13.10 percent.

Canadian National Railway Co., the country's biggest railroad company, decreased 2.93 percent.

Consumer prices in Canada rose 1.4 percent in the 12 months to May, following a 1.8 percent increase in April, data released by Statistics Canada showed on Tuesday.

Purchases of existing homes in the U.S. fell 2.2 percent in May to a 5.66 million annual rate, which is a very disappointing figure, according to the U.S. National Association of Realtors on Tuesday. The U.S. is the largest trade partner of Canada.

On the currency front, the Canadian dollar weakened for another day against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday. One U.S. dollar was buying 1.0292 Canadian dollars at 5pm local time (2100 GMT), compared with one U.S. dollar buying 1.0241 Canadian dollars on Monday.

Source:Xinhua