Commodities again dampen TSX showing

The Toronto stock market closed lower Friday, dragged down by the energy and mining sectors, while the Canadian dollar crept marginally higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 79.13 points to close at 14,186.24.

“Commodity stocks are just not the place to be right now,” said Ian Nakamoto, director of research at MacDougall MacDougall & MacTier Inc. in Toronto.

The price for crude oil fell 36 cents to US$48.14, while the August natural gas contract dropped four cents at US$2.776 and the gold fell US$8.40 at US$1,085.60.

The energy sector of the TSX lost more than two per cent, while the metals and mining sector declined 1.57 per cent.

Meanwhile, the loonie, which has been flirting with its lowest level since 2004, rose 0.03 of a cent at 76.72 cents US.

“That’s probably as good a reflection as anything in terms of what foreigners think of our markets,” Nakamoto said.

In the U.S., markets closed lower amid disappointing quarterly earnings results and weak economic data.

A housing report indicated that sales of new single-family homes dropped to the slowest pace in seven months.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 163.39 points at 17,568.53, while the Nasdaq dropped 57.78 points at 5,088.63 and the S&P 500 gave back 22.50 points at 2,079.65. However, Nakamoto noted that U.S. markets are still faring better than those north of the border.