TORONTO: Canada’s main stock index fell on Tuesday as financial stocks pulled back ahead of Britain’s vote on whether to leave the European Union, but shares of energy companies rebounded despite oil prices continuing to slip.
The heavyweight financials group slipped 0.5 percent as worries about a potential British exit saw investors push yields on German government debt into below zero for the first time.
Opinion polls show growing support for Britain to leave the EU, which investors worry could tip the bloc into recession.
Royal Bank of Canada fell 1 percent to C$77.74, Toronto-Dominion Bank declined 0.5 percent to C$56.26, and Bank of Nova Scotia lost 0.5 percent to C$64.66.
The move lower was offset by energy stocks, which climbed 0.5 percent overall after sharp declines in recent days.
At 10:08 a.m. EDT (1408 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 14.07 points, or 0.1 percent, to 13,979.81.
The most influential gainers included Canadian Natural Resources Ltd, which rose 1.4 percent to C$37.31, and pipeline company TransCanada Corp, which advanced 0.7 percent to C$55.22.
TransCanada said on Monday that it would build and operate a $2.1 billion natural gas pipeline in Mexico.
Six of the index’s 10 main groups were in negative territory, although several were barely lower and others barely higher.
U.S. crude prices were down 0.9 percent to $48.45 a barrel, while Brent lost 1.1 percent to $49.82.
Gold futures rose 0.2 percent to $1,286.9 an ounce, while copper prices declined 0.6 percent to $4,532 a tonne.
Canadian household debt as a percentage of income edged lower in the first quarter but remained high as consumers continued to borrow, data from Statistics Canada showed on Tuesday.
Growth in Canada’s economy should rebound this year but the effects of the oil shock have yet to fully play out, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday.
