TSX hits near two-month low

Toronto's main stock index hit a near two-month low on Friday as resource-related issues fell after eurozone debt downgrades and as another poor showing for Italian and German bond sales sparked fears about the European economy. A slew of bad news from Europe and light trading due to the US Thanksgiving holiday proved a bad combination for the commodities-heavy index, which suffered its worst weekly fall since early October, dropping more than 4 percent.
"In essence, Canada is a warrant on growth because of its 50 percent (weighting) in energy and materials in the index," said Gavin Graham, president at Graham Investment Strategy. "If you are worried about the outlook for growth, then that's going to reduce demand for commodities."
Oil and gas stocks led the index's losses, falling 0.7 percent as investor concerns that oil demand will be hurt by Europe's spreading debt crisis pushed crude prices to their second straight weekly loss. Canadian Natural Resources led the sector's fall, dropping 2.3 percent to C$33.96. Suncor Energy fell 2.1 percent to C$28.14.
Gold and copper prices also fell, pulling down the index's heavily weighted materials sector 0.1 percent. Diversified miner Teck Resources Ltd was a leading decliner, down 2 percent at C$32.66. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index closed down 23.26 points, or 0.2 percent, at 11,462.06. It was the index's lowest close since October 5.
The TSX is down more than 6 percent since the beginning of November, undermined by a parade of punishing news from Europe. In another worrying bond sale on Friday, Italy was forced to pay a record 6.5 percent for six months paper. That followed a disastrous German bond auction earlier in the week and the failure of the leaders of France, Germany and Italy to make headway in tackling the debt crisis.
Also hurting investor sentiment were credit downgrades in Belgium and Hungary. "Things just keep getting worse in Europe," Graham said. The index's financial sector was down 0.3 percent. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 1.1 percent to C$43.40, while Toronto Dominion Bank fell 0.8 percent to C$68.18. With markets reeling, investors were hoping for strong US Thanksgiving weekend retail sales to reinforce signs of strength in the US economy.