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TORONTO – Canada's main stock index ended a positive week by closing lower Friday as the energy sector sank on a further drop in the price of oil which drove the loonie to a four-month low.
The S & P / TSX composite index closed down 83.03 points at 15,274.44. but up from 15,150.15 a week ago.
The December crude contract was down 48 cents at US $ 60.19 per barrel to the lowest level since February.
But Cavan Yie has a portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management.
He said the third quarter has a strong earning season. It has shown up in slowing revenue growth, higher than expected operating costs and disappointing margin performance.
"This was our fear several months ago when we saw inflation starting to creep up but it was now manifesting themselves in financial performance," he said in an interview.
And several large cap companies including Apple, Amazon and Google have pointed to slower growth that has created some uncertainty.
"Some of these weaker outlooks are not constructive for equities and they do not encourage you to walk their stance," he said.
"So, that's all together and you're getting a good job in the equity markets."
The cannabis-heavy health-care sector on the downside, followed by technology, consumer discretionary, energy and materials. Utilities gained the most and more industrials by Bombardier Inc.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 201.92 points to 25,989.30. The decline was, however, a 545-point increase Wednesday in the wake of the U.S. midterm elections.
The S & P 500 index was down 25.82 points at 2,781.01, while the Nasdaq composite fell by 123.98 points to 7,406.90.
The Canadian dollar traded at 75.72 cents US compared with an average of 76.25 cents US on Thursday.
The December natural gas contract was up 17.6 cents at US $ 3.72 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US $ 16.50 at US $ 1,208.60 a year ago and the December copper contract was down 5.15 cents at US $ 2.68 a pound.
Ross Marowits, The Canadian Press
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