Daily Wrap-up: Materials gain, everything else slips

Materials gain, everything else slips... FCAC says even higher earners are turning to payday loans... CN Rail revenues hit by slide in energy freight...

Steve Randall
Materials gain, everything else slips
The materials sector gained more than 2 per cent Tuesday; unfortunately it was the only positive influence on the main TSX index with the other nine sectors closing lower along with the Canadian dollar.

Energy saw the largest slide on the TSX as concern over the viability of the proposed OPEC output deal and a report from the IEA forecasting weaker demand in 2017, saw oil prices finally slip back below $50.

South of the border, the lower oil price, stronger dollar and earnings and weaker-than-expected consumer sentiment hit Wall Street.

European indexes also slipped except for London which gained as the pound fell ahead of BoE governor Mark Carney’s appearance in the House of Commons.
 
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 52.38 (0.35 per cent)
The Dow Jones closed down 53.76 (0.30 per cent)
Oil is trending lower (Brent $50.68, WTI $49.86 at 4.35pm)
Gold is trending higher (1274.60 at 4.35pm)
The loonie is valued at U$0.7489
 
FCAC says even higher earners are turning to payday loans
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada has reported the findings of a survey it carried out earlier this year of 1500 users of payday loans.

In discovered that many users are unaware of the high cost of using the loans with just 43 per cent understanding that it would be cheaper to get a cash advance on a credit card.

However, most (65 per cent) of those polled did not have a credit card and 88 per cent did not have a line of credit. This was due to them not having access to traditional credit products.

Although most users of payday loans had low-to-moderate incomes, 20 per cent had household incomes above $80,000 with 7 per cent reporting incomes above $120,000.

Most users of payday loans (89 per cent) said they did so to cover necessary expenses.
 
CN Rail revenues hit by slide in energy freight
CN Rail reported a drop in net income Tuesday with $972 million in the third quarter compared from $1.01 billion a year earlier. The railroad said its freight volumes slipped on lower usage by energy firms. CN’s revenue was down 6.5 per cent year-over-year to $3.01 billion.
 

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