Canadian stock market closes lower on sluggish economic recovery

The Canadian stock market lost rally momentum and ended lower Tuesday, as investors were concerned about the sluggish economic recovery in Canada after the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned about the risks of the country's housing market. The S&P/TSX composite index, the main indicator of the stock market, closed at 13,442.77 points,falling by 15.29 points, or 0. 11 percent. OECD said Tuesday in its latest economic outlook that Canada's economy will likely strengthen over the next two years, but the rising exports and business spending that will drive the economic growth haven't yet materialized. And the economic bloc also warned the risk of the housing market in Canada by ranking it as among the world's frothiest, with threat of a "disorderly correction" in prices. Also, the U.S. billionaire investor Carl Icahn's comments on the recent rally in stock markets spurred investors' caution. Icahn said Monday he is "very cautious" on the stock market, saying he could see a "big drop" because earnings at many companies are fueled more by low borrowing costs rather than the strength of management. Among the eight main sectors of the S&P/TSX composite index, six sectors tumbled Tuesday, with the Info-tech sector and telecom sector leading the fall by 1.19 percent and 0.63 percent, respectively. The energy sector was the most active by trading. A gain in the price of U.S. crude oil pushed the sector up 0.43 percent, with Coastal Energy Company rising by 27.21 percent to 18.84 Canadian dollars (about 18 U.S. dollars) per share. In company news, Sears Canada Inc., the Toronto-based retailer, said Tuesday its third-quarter loss widened to 48.8 million Canadian dollars. It also declared a dividend totaling about 509 million Canadian dollars. The Canadian dollar closed at 0.9551 U.S. dollar at 5 p.m. local time (2200 GMT) Tuesday, compared with 0.9585 U.S. dollar Monday.