MW: Canadian markets slump as oil prices tumble nearly 3%
By Liana B. Baker, MarketWatch
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Canada's stock market index fell 1.7 % on Tuesday as geopolitical concerns in Korea and Europe sent oil prices lower, near $68 a barrel.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index (CA:$ISPTX 11,345, -176.69, -1.53%) fell 197 points, or 1.7% to 11,324.
Tuesday was the first trading session of the week in Toronto since the market was closed Monday for a holiday.
Energy stocks in Canada saw steep declines. Shares of Suncor Energy Inc. (SU 28.12, -0.78, -2.70%) (CA:SU 30.22, -0.97, -3.11%) fell 3.7% and shares of Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM 15.76, -0.43, -2.66%) (CA:TLM 17.02, -0.38, -2.18%) dropped 2.2%. Shares of tar sands-producer Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CA:CNQ 33.74, -0.95, -2.74%) lost 3.6%.
Crude-oil futures for July were trading down $2, or 2.9%, to $68.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Read more about crude oil.
Other notable decliners were shares of BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM 58.07, -1.60, -2.68%) (CA:RIM 62.61, -2.66, -4.08%) , which fell 4% and shares of transportation company Bombardier Inc. (CA:BBD.B 4.84, -0.19, -3.78%) , which saw its shares fall 5%.
In financials, shares of Royal Bank of Canada (CA:RY 58.00, -1.48, -2.49%) (RY 53.69, -1.66, -2.10%) declined 2.3% while shares of the Toronto Dominion Bank (CA:TD 70.62, -0.88, -1.23%) fell 1.3%. A slew of Canadian banks are scheduled to report quarterly results later this week.
On the currency front, the Canadian dollar lost major ground against the greenback, as investors flocked to the security of the U.S. dollar. One U.S. dollar was buying C$1.0814, up 1.7%.
