TSX Ends Lower As Commodity Prices Rise -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks snapped a three-day gain to end lower on Wednesday, driven by declines in financial and commodity stocks, even as rising commodity prices boosted energy and gold stocks.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise interest rates, with a few members anticipate a hike in June, the minutes of the Federal Reserve's April 29-30 meeting showed.

The minutes show several members in March said the Fed was on track to raise rates in June, but policy makers appear more reluctant to tighten given the fragile nature of the economic recovery.

April's dismal retail sales report came out days after the meeting and was therefore not factored in. This would indicate the Fed is even less likely to seriously consider a summertime rate hike than these minutes would indicate.

Markets in Europe closed with mixed results, following yesterday's rally. Concerns over Greece continue to weigh on investor sentiment. The European Central Bank's Governing Council meets today to discuss whether to raise the collateral requirements for the emergency loans it gives to the Bank of Greece.

Markets in the United States remained under pressure through the session, to close mostly in the red.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index closed Wednesday at 15,072.83, down 48.19 points or 0.32 percent. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,187.02 and a low of 15,051.70.

On Tuesday, the index closed up 12.90 points or 0.09 percent, at 15,121.02. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,159.08 and a low of 15,063.32.

The Diversified Metals & Mining Index fell 1.14 percent, as First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.TO) dropped 1.09 percent, Teck Resources Limited (TCK.B.TO) fell 0.25 percent, Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN.TO) dropped 2.74 percent, and Sherritt International Corp. (S.TO) surrendered 1.93 percent.

Gold futures moved ended higher, ahead of the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's April meeting, with investors awaiting cues on the rate hike.

The Gold Index inched up 0.22 percent, with gold for June delivery gaining gained $2.00 or 0.2 percent to settle at $1,208.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday.

Among gold stocks, Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO) dipped 0.79 percent, Kinross Gold Corp. (K.TO) fell 0.67 percent, Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) shed 0.79 percent, and Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI.TO) surrendered 0.64 percent.

B2Gold Corp. (BTO.TO) surged 6.86 percent. Eldorado Gold Corp. (ELD.TO) ended flat, while IAMGOLD Corp. (IMG.TO) lost 1.50 percent.

The Capped Materials Index dipped 0.14 percent, with Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (POT.TO) inching up 0.02 percent and Agrium Inc. (AGU.TO) up 0.28 percent.

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM.TO) fell 1.29 percent, Franco-Nevada Corp. (FNV.TO) shed 0.50 percent, and Silver Wheaton Corp. (SLW.TO) declined 2.08 percent.

U.S. crude oil ended higher after official data from the Energy Information Administration showed crude stockpiles in the U.S. to have declined more than expected last week, although production continued to remain firm.

Earlier today, a weekly report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude oil inventories dropped 2.7 million barrels in the week ended May 15, while analysts expected a decline of 2.0 million barrels. The report showed U.S. crude oil inventories at 482.2 million barrels end last week. This is the third straight week of crude oil inventories decline.

The Energy Index gained 0.74 percent, with U.S. crude oil futures for July delivery, the most actively traded contract, jumping $0.99 or 1.7 percent, to settle at $58.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday.

Among energy stocks, Suncor Energy Inc. (SU.TO) added 0.77 percent, while Crescent Point Energy Corp. (CPG.TO) moved up 0.38 percent. Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) gained 0.73 percent, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ.TO) moved up 0.58 percent, and Canadian Oil Sands Limited (COS.TO) surrendered 1.18 percent.

Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. (PRE.TO) jumped 6.36 percent, while Legacy Oil + Gas (LEG.TO) moved up 1.51 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index fell 0.64 percent, as Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) fell 1.27 percent, Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) dropped 0.37 percent, and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) surrendered 0.62 percent. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) dived 0.83 percent.

National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) fell 0.20 percent, while Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) dropped 0.30 percent.

The Capped Health Care Index slipped 0.05 percent as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (VRX.TO) fell 0.09 percent, with VRX reportedly in talks to acquire Amoun Pharmaceutical Co., one of the largest drug makers in Egypt.

Catamaran Corp. (CCT.TO) slipped 0.37 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index dropped 0.81 percent, as Finning International Inc. (FTT.TO) dropped 0.84 percent, Air Canada (AC.TO) plunged 3.65 percent. Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP.TO) fell 0.39 percent, and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) shed 1.31 percent.

Bombardier Inc. (BBD-A.TO) fell 1.91 percent.

The Information Technology Index declined 0.43 percent, as Descartes Systems Group Inc. (DSG.TO) dropped 1.21 percent, and Sierra Wireless, Inc. (SW.TO) dropped sharply to 3.40 percent.

Constellation Software (CSU.TO) gained 2.71 percent, after it agreed to acquire Picis clinical applications.

BlackBerry Inc. (BB.TO) slipped 0.56 percent.

The Capped Telecommunication Index added 0.09 percent, as Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI.B.TO) gained 0.49 percent, TELUS Corp. (T.TO) fell 0.60 percent, and BCE Inc. (BCE.TO) moved up 0.13 percent.

Sears Canada (SCC.TO) gained 2.95 percent, after reporting a first-quarter net loss of C$0.58 per share compared to a loss of C$0.74 per share last year.

Velan (VLN.TO) climb 3.94 percent, after Tom Velan was appointed Chairman of the Board and CEO of the company.

On the economic front, Bank of England kept its monetary policy stance unchanged unanimously at the meeting held early this month. The meet also suggested the next action would be a hike in interest rate, but such a move is unlikely until 2016. The key interest rate will be kept at a record low of 0.50 percent and asset purchase program at GBP 375 billion.

The leading index for Japan, which measures future economic activity, increased more than initially estimated in March, to 106.0, revised from the preliminary estimate of 105.5. The score for February was 105.3.

Japan's gross domestic product climbed 0.6 percent on quarter in the first quarter of 2015, the Cabinet Office said in Wednesday's preliminary reading. That topped expectations for an increase of 0.4 percent, and it was up from the downwardly revised 0.3 percent rate of growth in the fourth quarter.

Eurozone construction output increased in March, after declining in the previous month, data from Eurostat showed Wednesday. Construction output rose 0.8 percent month-over-month in March, reversing a 1.6 percent decrease in February, which was revised from a 1.8 percent drop reported earlier.

Germany's producer prices declined at a slightly faster-than-expected pace in April, figures from Destatis showed Wednesday. The producer price index fell 1.5 percent year-over-year in April, just above economists' expectations for a 1.4 percent decrease.

UK households' finance outlook worsened for the first time in eight months in May, while their financial woes eased to a record low, results of a survey by Markit Economics and financial information provider Ipsos Mori revealed Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted Markit Household Finance Index rose slightly to 45.8 in May from 45.7 in the previous month.

The United Nations lowered its global economic growth forecast by 0.3 percentage points due to deterioration in the prospects of the economies in transition and several large developing countries, especially in South America, a UN report showed Tuesday.

The growth of world gross domestic product is expected to improve slightly to 2.8 percent in 2015 from 2.6 percent in 2014, a downward revision by 0.3 percentage points from the forecast presented in the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2015 (WESP) in January.

The global growth is expected to improve to 3.1 percent in 2016, which is still well below the pre-crisis pace, the report stated. Previously, the global economy was projected to grow by 3.3 percent in 2016.