Canadian stock market retreats amid resources slump

Canada's main stock market retreated Monday from a solid rally last week, as sharp selloffs in resource shares, triggered by oil and gold slump, weighed on investor sentiment ahead of the Christmas break.

Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index edged down 35.88 points, or 0.25 percent, to 14,432.38 points.

The index lost momentum on the closing bell, dragged down by a slump in resources shares despite the fact that the info-tech sector gained 1.55 percent and the financials added 0.51 percent.

The energy sector declined 1.83 percent over oil's price slip. Light, sweet crude for February delivery moved down 1.87 U.S. dollars to settle at 55.26 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Analysts believed that there will not be any meaningful rebound of the oil market before the end of this year as a higher U.S. dollar, lower demand and a output glut would weigh on crude prices.

Most Canadian energy stocks dropped. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. shed 1.61 percent to 36.04 Canadian dollars (about 30.97 U.S. dollars), and Encana Corp. dived 4.2 percent to 15.72 Canadian dollars. Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. also tumbled 4.13 percent to 10.9 Canadian dollars per share.

Bucking the trend, Suncor Energy Inc. rallied 2.16 percent to 36.88 Canadian dollars as the Canadian leading integrated energy company announced a 750-million-Canadian-dollar medium-term note offering on Saturday.

The metals and mining sector dropped 2.42 percent, with the sluggish gold price another key factor in the slump of resources shares in TSX. The most actively traded contract for February delivery fell 16.2 dollars to close at 1,179.8 dollars per ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The world's largest gold miner Barrick lost 4.53 percent to 12. 02 Canadian dollars, while copper giant Teck Resources Ltd. also declined 2.02 percent to 18.4 Canadian dollars.

On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that investment in new housing construction stood at 4.5 billion Canadian dollars in October, up 5.1 percent compared with the same period of 2013.

S&P/TSX Capped Real Estate Index edged up 0.31 percent when Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust added 0.48 percent to 46.38 Canadian dollars per share.

As for the currency, the Canadian dollar went down Monday to 0. 8593 U.S. dollar from 0.8615 U.S. dollar last Friday, as the greenback rose against major currencies amid weak oil prices.