TSX slips as oil rises, gold prices fall




Canada's benchmark stock index slipped on Thursday in a day of choppy trading, as the price of crude oil rose and gold fell.

The S&P/TSX closed at 13,371.20, a decline of 9.50 points, or 0.07 per cent, after swinging between gains and losses most of the afternoon. Only three of the 10 subindexes rose, including energy and materials. It was the first decline for the S&P/TSX in three sessions.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, oil rose for the fifth straight session, gaining $1.03 to $91.51 -- its highest level in more than two years. The price of gold fell $6.80 to US$1,380.00.

Oil's performance greased the way for the Canadian dollar, which gained against its U.S. counterpart. The loonie rose 52 basis points to US99.12 ¢.

The U.S. dollar/Canadian dollar currency pair "has been less in tune with risk-seeking sentiment," Brian Kim, a currency strategist at UBS AG in Stamford, Connecticut, told Bloomberg. "It's probably the choppiness in the Canadian and U.S. data that's batting around the pair."

That choppy data included a report from Statistics Canada on Thursday that the country's economy grew by 0.2% in October after a 0.1% decline in September -- but less than the 0.3% growth analysts had forecast.

"While certainly an improvement from the summer months, the modest rebound in October shows that the Canadian economy is now struggling to generate any serious momentum after a flashy start to the recovery," said Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist at BMOCapital Markets.

Reports in the U.S. on Thursday showed consumer spending rose in November for a fifth consecutive month and initial jobless claims declined last week.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 14 points to 11,573.49, a gain of 0.12%, while the Nasdaq composite index slipped 5.88 points, or 0.22%, to 2,665.60.

Canada's junior Venture exchange gained 8.02 points, or 0.37%, to 2,175.36.

Fertilizer producers gained after the U.S. reported a jump in soybean exports. Agrium shares were up 1.7% to $86.87, while Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan rose 1.4% to $145.91.

The TSX's financials sector slipped on Thursday. Bank of Montreal shares fell 1.38% to $57.05 --the bank's share price has dropped 7.7% since last week when it announced it was buying Milwaukee-based Marshall & Illsley Corp. Manulife Financial saw its share price fall 1.15% to $17.21. Canada's railways also declined Thursday on news that GDP growth in October failed to meet expectations. CNR shares were down 1.2% to $66.63, while CPR shares slid 0.6% to $65.10.