Canada Stocks Fall to 1-Month Low as Alcoa Cuts Aluminum Outlook
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Canadian stocks fell to the lowest level in almost five weeks after Alcoa Inc. cut its aluminum outlook on weakening demand in China, the world’s biggest commodities consumer.
Niko Resources Ltd., an oil and gas explorer, slumped 8.5 percent. Enbridge Inc. (ENB) retreated 1 percent. AuRico Gold Inc. (AUQ) surged 21 percent after selling mining properties in Mexico to billionaire Carlos Slim’s Minera Frisco SAB. Centerra Gold Inc. (CG) jumped 5.1 percent after analysts at Canaccord Genuity raised the stock’s rating.
The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (SPTSX) retreated 61.15 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,212.42 in Toronto, its lowest level since Sept. 6. The benchmark equity gauge is up 2.2 percent this year. Energy and bank shares contributed the most to losses in the S&P/TSX as seven of 10 industries retreated.
“Alcoa is rephrasing what we’ve been seeing all along,” Pat McHugh, senior managing director and Canadian equity strategist with Manulife Asset Management Ltd., said from Toronto. The firm manages about $218 billion. “China is slowing down and Europe is in recession and getting worse.”
Alcoa (AA), the largest U.S. aluminum producer, cut its forecast for global consumption of the metal by 1 percentage point on slowing Chinese demand, the company said yesterday. The International Monetary Fund said today European banks may need to sell as much as $4.5 trillion in assets through 2013 if policy makers fall short of pledges to stem the fiscal crisis, up 18 percent from its April estimate.
