Canadian stock market plunges over telecom selloff

Canada's main stock market Monday tumbled over telecom shares selloff, after the federal government announced that it plans to offer more market access for new wireless entrants.
Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 42.03 points, or 0.28 percent to 15,172.93 points, as the losses in telecom and energy sectors overpowered the gains driven by the mining sectors.
The mining sector rose 1.61 percent after First Quantum Minerals Ltd. surged 3.63 percent to 25.95 Canadian dollars (about 24.30 U.S. dollars) and the Info-tech sector gained 0.80 percent with Canada's smartphone BlackBerry jumping 5.63 percent to 12.01 Canadian dollars. However, the market was weighed when telecom closed down 0.99 percent, leading the losers after Canada's Industry Minister James Moore announced on Monday that the government is to release more valuable spectrum to strengthen competition in Canada's wireless industry, and the government will again tailor the next auction of the AWS-3 wireless spectrum, which is ideal for delivering fast, reliable service to Canadians on the latest smartphones, tablets and mobile devices.
The shares of major communication giants lost ground over the announcement. Rogers Communications Inc. declined 1.53 percent to 42.36 Canadian dollars, Telus dived 1.63 percent to 39.28 Canadian dollars, and Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. was also down 0.32 percent to 30.80 Canadian dollars.
The energy sector decreased 0.92 percent as the global crude oil price went down. Encana Corp. vapored 2.5 percent to 23.8 Canadian dollars and Surge Energy Inc. dived 2.92 percent to 7.64 Canadian dollars per share.
Another loser, Industrials, fell 0.76 percent with Air Canada down 1.99 percent to 9.85 Canadian dollars.
The real estate stock Canadian Apartment Properties increased 1. 06 percent to 22.90 Canadian dollars apiece as Statistics Canada Monday released the data showing that Canada's municipalities issued building permits worth 6.9 billion Canadian dollars in May, up 13.8 percent from April.
On the currency front, the Canadian dollar Monday closed lower to 0.9366 U.S. dollar from 0.9384 U.S. dollar on last Friday.