Canadian stock market drops on falling oil prices

Canada's main stock market posted a triple-digit loss Friday as falling energy shares, dragged down by lower oil prices, shattered trading sentiment.

Following a slight gain the previous day, the Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index shed 108.42 points or 0.8 percent to 13,461.47 points on the closing bell.

Crude oil futures dipped below 45 U.S. dollars per barrel again after the Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs trimmed its 2016 price forecast for U.S. oil price to 45 dollars, sharply down from prior prediction of 57 dollars published in May.

In response, light, sweet crude for October delivery declined 1.29 U.S. dollars Friday to settle at 44.63 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The energy sector in TSX dived 3.06 percent when the Canadian oil and gas giant Suncor Energy Inc. lost 2.71 percent to 34.08 Canadian dollars (about 25.71 U.S. dollars) while Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. tumbled 3.08 percent to 6.3 Canadian dollars per share.

Telecom declined 1.13 percent after the telecommunications carrier Telus Corp. dropped 1.09 percent to 41.9 Canadian dollars.

Industrials was lower 0.84 percent when Canada's biggest aircraft and railway maker Bombardier Inc. dropped slightly by 1.06 percent to close at 1.86 Canadian dollars apiece after a skyrocket of 28.77 percent Thursday.

Utilities, the only gainer in TSX on Friday, inched higher 0.05 percent.

Investors' worries about the turbulence of the global capital market are heightened ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement due out next week. Analysts expect that the central bank would lift its benchmark interest rate for the first time in more than nine years.

According to a report released by Bank of Montreal Friday, stocks could be in for a much choppier ride as the U.S. rate hikes commence later this year, while the U.S. S&P 500 has rallied more than 200 percent from its March 2009 lows.

On the currency front, the Canadian dollar lowered to 0.7545 U.S. dollar Friday from 0.7560 U.S. dollar Thursday.