TSX slips as resource stocks weigh
By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Thursday, as falling commodity prices weighed on resource stocks and investors struggled to brush off concerns about slowing global growth while waiting for the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise rates. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> had closed off a dismal third quarter with a 2 percent rise in the previous session, but pared those gains to end Thursday down 65.07 points, or 0.49 percent, at 13,241.89. "It's symptomatic of a changing of the guard in the market, I think there's a re-evaluation going on," said Rick Hutcheon, president and chief operating officer at RKH Investments. "People have given up on this year, now they're looking at what they're going to do for next year, are things in fact going to get better and if so, at what stage do you step in and put a few marbles on some bets," he said. He said he is looking to buy in Canada's beaten-down cyclical sectors but is wary of trying to catch a falling knife, that a Fed hike this year should boost confidence about economic recovery, and that Canada should grow alongside its southern neighbor. "We're their biggest trading partner, we're going to get dragged along for the ride," he said. "It doesn't mean we're going to have robust or fabulous growth here but I think the downside has been seen." Nine of the 10 heaviest weights on the index were either energy and materials names, with fertilizer producer Potash Corp down 4.9 percent to C$26.08 and miner Goldcorp Inc losing 3.8 percent to C$16.09. Prices for crude oil, gold and copper all slipped. Six of the index's 10 main groups fell, with two declining issues for every advancer. In corporate news, Bombardier Inc shares fell 8.9 percent to C$1.52 after the struggling plane and train maker said it was exploring the sale of a stake in any of its business units, not just rail, to ensure it can finish its much delayed CSeries jet. SNC Lavalin Group stock gained 2.7 percent to C$38.99. The engineering and construction company reached a settlement with the African Development Bank Group over allegations that former employees had ordered illicit payments to secure contracts for projects in the region. Amaya Inc jumped 17 percent to C$28.50 after the online gaming company won approval to operate its PokerStars and Full Tilt brands in New Jersey. (Additional reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by James Dalgleish and Diane Craft)
