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Commodities hurt Canada
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February 17, 1999: 5:12 p.m. ET
Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal retreat on weakness in oil, gas, gold and minerals
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Toronto stocks closed lower on Wednesday as weak commodities, particularly gold and oil issues, took the market lower.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's key 300 Composite Index fell 61.78 points, or 0.97 percent, to 6,324.70. Volume in the broader market was 106 million shares worth. Declines topped advances 629 to 324 with another 273 issues unchanged.
The TSE's performance was a near-exact replication of Tuesday's 61.08 point slide.
Overall in Toronto, 12 of the TSE 300's 14 subindexes closed lower, led by a 2.77 percent dip in the metals and minerals index and a 2.75 percent fall in the consumer products index. The gold and precious metals index was down 1.87 percent.
David Jarvis, a liability trader at Levesque Beaubien Geoffrion in Toronto, blamed low commodity prices for the slumping markets.
The Toronto Stock Exchange, which is heavily weighted in resource-based stocks, is strongly influenced by the performance of these stocks.
"Oils and golds are under pressure. Metals are under pressure, they're going nowhere. Commodity prices are falling," Jarvis said.
Elsewhere in the region, the Montreal Stock Exchange also finished in the red. The benchmark Montreal Portfolio lost dropped 24.28 points, or 0.71 percent, to 3391.61. Declining issues outpaced advances 228 to 103, with 100 issues unchanged.
Further west, the Vancouver lost 2.84 points, or 0.5 percent, to close the day at 405.94. Declines beat out advances 228 to 163, with an additional 146 issues unchanged.
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