Article content
Canada’s main stock index traded lower on Wednesday for the second straight session, weighed by mining stocks, although oil refining firm Gibson Energy reported a strong annual outlook.
Gibson Energy Inc rose 4.4% after the company lifted its annual growth capital outlook and sanctioned two new tanks at Edmonton Terminal; it was set for its best day in over a year, if gains hold.
Article content
The broader energy sector housing the stock traded 0.1% up, tracking strong crude oil prices.
“Investors have been waiting for these announcements and it’s good for Gibson to add more capacity and put more capital back into western Canada,” said Greg Taylor, chief investment officer at Purpose Investments.
Article content
Taylor said an unexpected rise in April inflation on Tuesday also weighed on sentiment.
At 10:23 a.m. ET the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index fell 0.1% at 20,219.85 points according to TMX Group website.
The materials sector slumped 1% and was the biggest drag on the commodity-heavy bourse, tracking a decline in bullion prices.
Canadian stocks have stuck to a tight range since late April as weak China data darkened the demand outlook for commodities, and concerns about the U.S. debt ceiling limit weighed on sentiment.
Among other movers, Thomson Reuters Corp rose 0.2% after an investor consortium including the Reuters News parent and U.S. buyout firm Blackstone Inc sold shares worth about $3.41 billion in market operator London Stock Exchange Group.
Lithium Americas Corp jumped 2.4% after the U.S. Interior Department removed one of the last remaining obstacles to the miner’s Thacker Pass mine project in Nevada.
Market participants continue to keep a keen eye on the outcome of talks in Washington that would determine if the world’s largest economy will default on its trillion-dollar debt obligations. (Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Vansh Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
