Canadian stocks ease off from year-long highs

Canada's main stock market in Toronto fell back from year-long highs on Tuesday as banks and energy stocks weighed on overall market.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index lost 73.58 point, or 0.50 percent, to close at 14,703.44 points. Seven of the TSX index's eight main sub-sectors were lower.

Oil prices rallied for a fourth straight session Tuesday, amid speculation that the talks of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) next month could result in a crude output freeze.

Texas light sweet crude for September delivery added 0.84 U.S. dollar to settle at 46.58 dollars a barrel in New York, while Brent crude for October delivery gained 0.88 dollar to close at 49.23 dollars a barrel in London.

But TSX energy sector edged down 0.17 percent as pipeline operator TransCanada Corporation slipped 1.51 percent to 61.37 Canadian dollars (47.75 U.S. dollars) while Suncor Energy Inc. shed 0.25 percent to 36.59 Canadian dollars.

Financials group was down 0.46 percent as Royal Bank of Canada fell 0.27 percent to 79.94 Canadian dollars while Toronto-Dominion Bank lost 0.44 percent to 56.91 Canadian dollars.

Besides the country's biggest banks and a few major energy companies, among the biggest drags was the biggest gold miner Barrick Gold Corp, down 1.47 percent to 27.39 Canadian dollars.

Avigilon Corporation, which sells video surveillance cameras, slumped 25.24 percent to 9.98 Canadian dollars after a string of analysts lowered their views on the stock after its quarterly results.

Shares in Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. rose 3.14 percent to 62.00 Canadian dollars after reports said the convenience store operator is in the lead to acquire U.S.-based CST Brands Inc.

On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales rose 0.8 percent to 50.2 billion Canadian dollars in June, following a 1.0 percent decline in May.

The Canadian dollar traded higher at 0.7780 U.S. dollar, compared with Monday's closing rate of 0.7742 U.S. dollar.

Source : XINHUA