Canadian stock market falls over resources share slump

Canada's main stock market fell Thursday as resources shares lost ground over investors' concern about China's economic growth.
Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index waned 77.43 points, or 0.52 percent, to 14,778.77 points.
The index was dragged down by a slump in resources shares when China's industrial output growth fell in October and investment growth hit a near 13-year low. Investors were worried about the growth of the world's second largest economy is cooling further, which may reduce the consumption of commodities including resources products.
Falling crude oil prices also weighed on energy stocks, as the December crude contract crumbled 2.97 U.S dollars to 74.21 U.S. dollars per barrel on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The energy sector plunged 2.9 percent, leading TSX losers, after Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. lost 2.96 percent to 40.67 Canadian dollars (about 35.75 U.S. dollars), and Suncor Energy Inc. declined 1.66 percent to 39.19 Canadian dollars.
The metals & mining sector dropped 1.22 percent when Canada's copper giant Teck Resources dived 3.23 percent to 17.70 Canadian dollars and Yamana Gold Inc. shrank 3.5 percent to 4.13 Canadian dollars per share.
However, the info tech sector rallied 2.05 percent as Canadian computer services provider CGI Group Inc. posted a 52 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday. The Montreal-based company went up 2.76 percent to 40.55 Canadian dollars in its stock price.
Meanwhile, BlackBerry jumped 7.68 percent to 13.74 after the Canadian smartphone maker announced a strategic partnership with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. to provide a highly secure mobility solution for Android.
In other sectors, healthcare added 1.28 percent while financials was up 0.21 percent.
As for domestic economy, Statistics Canada reported Thursday morning that its New Housing Price Index added 0.1 percent in September, following a 0.3 percent increase in August. Provincially, increases in Ontario and Alberta offset declines in Quebec and Manitoba.
On the currency front, the Canadian dollar declined to 0.8790 U. S dollar Thursday from 0.8837 U.S dollar on Wednesday.