Canadian stock market down on cautious ECB remarks

The Canadian stock market closed lower Thursday as mining and energy stocks suffered after the European Central Bank (ECB) remained cautious about the outlook for the region's economy. The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 5.67 points, or 0.04 percent, to 12,755.92, while the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index decreased 5.61 points, or 0.48 percent, to 1,206.11. After the ECB kept interest rates on hold, ECB President Mario Draghi said he will monitor the economic impact of a strengthening euro. The comments fed expectations that the rising currency, which could cause an excessive drop in inflation, might drive the ECB to cut interest rates in coming months. Four of the eight sectors on the Canadian stock market's main index were lower. The metals and mining sectors lost 1.95 percent and played the biggest role in leading the market lower. Shares of Teck Resources fell 6 percent to 34.45 Canadian dollars apiece after the diversified miner reported a sharp drop in fourth-quarter earnings as higher copper sales failed to offset the impact of falling coal prices. The energy sector dropped 0.4 percent amid falling oil prices. Canada's largest energy producer Suncor Energy declined 0.9 percent to 32.23 Canadian dollars per share. A rise in BlackBerry shares helped lift the information technology sector higher. BlackBerry rose 5.8 percent after the smartphone maker reelected its board nominees on Thursday and named two new board members. The financial sector slipped 0.1 percent. Shares of insurer Manulife Financial Corp gained 1 percent to 14.55 Canadian dollars apiece after the insurer reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit. At closing, the Canadian dollar weakened to 1.0021 U.S. dollar at 5 p.m. local time (2200 GMT), compared with 1.0046 US dollar on Wednesday.