TSX Extends Losses As Miners, Energy Stocks Tumble Again

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are lower Monday morning, with energy and mining sections seeing another sell-off despite crude oil and gold prices staging a recovery of sorts after falling to new multi-year lows.

Worries about the global economy after a report from Markit showed Chinese factory activity to have slowed down last month and some weak reports from eurozone weigh on the market.

Besides oil and mining stocks, several stocks from healthcare and industrial stocks are also sharply lower.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 163.50 points or 1.11 percent at 14,581.21, after declining to 14,579.72.

The Diversified Metals and Mining Index is down 4 percent. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Teck Resources (TCK.B.TO), Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ.TO) Lundin Mining Corporation (LUN.TO), HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO) and Major Drilling Group International Inc. (MDI.TO) are declining 4 to 7 percent.

Nevsun Resources (NSU.TO), Sherritt International Corporation (S.TO) is down 2 percent and Capstone Mining Corp. (CS.TO) are lower by 2 to 3 percent.

The Energy Index is down 3 percent. Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), ARC Resources (ARX.TO), Husky Energy (HSE.TO) and Canadian Oil Sands (COS.TO) are down 2 to 5 percent. Encana Corporation (ECA.TO) and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) are lower by about 1.5 percent.

The Industrials Index is down 2.6 percent. Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) are lower by over 4 percent.

SNC-Lavlin Group Inc. (SNC.TO) and Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. (BIN.TO) are declining 1.6 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively, while Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO), WestJet Airlines (WJA.TO) and Aircanada (AC.TO) are up 1.5 to 2.5 percent.

The Financial Index is down 0.6 percent. Among big six banks, Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is declining 1.4 percent, National Bank of Canada (NA.To) is down 1.2 percent and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is down by about 1 percent.

The Healthcare index is down 1.1 percent. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (VRX.TO) is down 1.4 percent and Extendicare (EXE.TO) is declining 2.3 percent.

The Capped Materials Index is up 0.5 percent. B2Gold Corp. (BTO.TO) is up 1.3 percent, Eldorado Gold Corporation (ELD.TO) is moving up 4.5 percent and Kinross Gold Corporation (K.TO) is rising nearly 5.5 percent.

Cott Corp. (BCB.TO) is declining over 3 percent. The company's subsidiary, Cott Beverages Inc., will offer $615 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2019. The notes would be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Cott Corp. and certain of its units.

Northstar Healthcare Inc. (NHC.TO) shares are up nearly 12 percent after the company announced the acquisition of Athas Health LLC for a total consideration of approximately $34 million. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to earnings and to accelerate the growth plans of Northstar by at least 2 years.

In commodities, crude oil futures for January are up $2.25 or 3.40 percent at $68.40 a barrel, rebounding from a low of $63.75.

Natural gas for January is down $0.104 or 2.56 percent at $3.980 per million btu.

Gold futures for February are up $27.30 or 2.30 percent at $1,202.80 an ounce.

Silver for February is up $0.884 or 5.67 percent at $16.440 an ounce. Meanwhile, copper is up $0.044 or 1.55 percent at $2.889 per pound.

In economic news from Asia, a report released by China's Bureau of National Statistics showed that their reading on manufacturing activity in November was downwardly revised to 50.3 from 50.5.

Meanwhile, a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing that its index of U.S. manufacturing activity fell by much less than anticipated in the month of November, edging down 58.7, from 59.0 in October.