Daily Wrap-up: TSX closes lower on energy stocks

TSX closes lower on energy stocks... PBO slashes growth forecast... Toyota announces production plan for Cambridge plant... Mixed fortunes for provincial economies in 2014...

Steve Randall
TSX closes lower on energy stocks
Data which paints a bleak picture for the oil industry added pressure to energy stocks Tuesday. The International Energy Agency says that it can see oil prices staying around $50 a barrel if OPEC refuses to cut production. Oil prices did rise during the session though as the report highlighted reduced investment in oil projects and concern grew of possible supply disruption from weather off the US East Coast.

Valeant stocks also hit the TSX’s main index as the company announced it would seek to offload the specialty pharmacy at the centre of its recent bad press.

Wall Street closed with small gains for the S&P 500 and Dow but the Nasdaq was lower.

Asian markets, except Tokyo, closed lower due to a sell-off driven in part by expectation of the Fed raising interest rates.
Earnings and the oil industry saw European indexes close mixed.
 
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 70.99 (0.53 per cent)
The Dow Jones closed down 27.73 (0.16 per cent)
Oil is trending higher (Brent $47.36, WTI $44.10 at 4.05pm)
Gold is trending lower (1087.10 at 4.05pm)
The loonie is valued at U$0.7534
 
PBO slashes growth forecast
The Canadian economy will grow by just 1.1 per cent this year according to revised figures from the Parliamentary Budget Office. It cuts the forecast made in April in half and the PBO also thinks that 2016’s growth will be 2 per cent rather than the 2.3 per cent it forecast previously.
 
Toyota announces production plan for Cambridge plant
Workers at the Cambridge Toyota plant which will lose production of the Corolla to Mexico got some good news Tuesday. The car maker will build the RAV 4 compact SUV model at the plant; the model which is already assembled at Woodstock. The firm is making a $500 million investment in the Cambridge plant which will secure its future for at up to a decade. RAV 4 production will begin at the plant in 2019 and although no details of the size of the workforce, building the SUV is a bigger job than the Corolla.
 
Mixed fortunes for provincial economies in 2014
Statistics Canada released provincial GDP data for 2014 Tuesday, which revealed a mixed picture across Canada. Real GDP increased for all provinces and territories in 2014 except Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and Yukon. The Northwest Territories had the largest increase (5.8 per cent), followed by Alberta (4.8 per cent) and Nunavut (3.3 per cent). Nationally, real GDP rose 2.5% per cent in 2014, compared with a 2.2 per cent gain in 2013. Economic growth in Alberta and Nunavut was higher than the national average for a fifth consecutive year.  Real GDP growth in Ontario outpaced the national average for the first time since 2005.
 

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