Enlarge Photo
(Reuters)
By Ka Yan Ng
TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index was lower on Tuesday morning due to weakness in commodity shares and evidence of a slow recovery in the U.S. economy.
Strength in banking stocks stemming from firm Bank of Montreal quarterly results cushioned the fall. The top five spots the market's list of risers were held by big banks.
Bank of Montreal reported a higher-than-expected 16 percent increase in quarterly profit and said it was buying the Diners Club North America credit card business, a deal that would double its corporate card portfolio.
BMO shares gained 0.5 percent to C$53.80. Toronto-Dominion Bank was up 0.27 percent at C$67.53.
Resource shares were big decliners on Tuesday, led by a 1.7 percent drop in fertilizer company Potash Corp to C$118.25. Lower oil prices and a recent run-up in commodity stocks also put pressure on companies such as diversified miner Teck Resources , down 2.2 percent at C$36.55, and oil producer EnCana Corp , down 0.54 percent at C$55.60.
"I think it's just an overall sell off in the market today. It had a pretty nice run in some of these commodities so it was ripe for some profit-taking," said Ian Nakamoto, director of research at MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier.
At 10:40 a.m., the S&P/TSX composite index was down 25.50 points, or 0.22 percent, at 11,599.28, after opening higher.
The U.S. economy grew more slowly than first thought in the third quarter, but house prices rose for the fifth straight month in September and U.S. consumer confidence was up in November, suggesting a slow economic recovery is still intact.
"I think it just confirms that we're in a slow recovery here. It's good to see a positive but it wasn't as positive as people were expecting," Nakamoto said.
($1=$1.06 Canadian)
(Editing by Peter Galloway)
158.94 (1.43%)
