Canada's main stock market in Toronto retreated on Thursday, as declines in materials and energy stocks outpaced gains in telecommunications.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite slipped 28.32 points, or 0.18 percent, to finish the session at 15,615.52 points. Six of the ten sub-groups ended the day in negative territory.

The TSX Materials group, which consists of producers of gold, precious metals and raw materials, was slammed on the day, falling 1.82 percent as prices of gold, silver and copper all dropped more than one percent.

The spot price of gold fell 12.40 U.S. dollars an ounce to 1188.30, while the same weight of silver gave up 24 cents to close at 16.74 U.S dollars. Copper retreated 3.87 cents to close at 2.6359 U.S. dollars a pound.

As a result, gold miners Kinross Gold Corporation and IAMGOLD Corporation were among the top-ten most exchanged stocks on the day. Share price of the two firms retreated 3.29 percent and 2.87 percent, respectively.

The news was not bad for all group members, as Vancouver-based Methanex Corporation shares surged 9.91 percent to 67.44 Canadian dollars (51.49 U.S. dollars) after the methanol producer reported that their fourth quarter net income jumped to 24 million Canadian dollars, compared to an 11 million dollar loss in the quarter prior.

Energy group ended two straight days of gains, dropping 0.76 percent on the day despite the price of crude oil finishing higher. March contract of Brent in London closed at 56.24 U.S. dollars a barrel, a 1.90 percent gain from the day prior.

Calgary-based energy firm Baytex Energy Corp. dipped 3.10 percent to close at 5.63 Canadian dollars (4.30 U.S. dollars), while Encana Corporation closed at 17.61 Canadian dollars (13.45 U.S. dollars), a 1.95 percent decline.

Other groups to finish the day lower were: Health Care (0.63 percent), Consumer Staples (0.55 percent), Consumer Discretionary (0.47 percent), and Utilities (0.44 percent).

On the bright side, Telecommunications soared 1.76 percent after industry leader Rogers Communication reported better than expected fourth quarter results.

The Toronto-based firm that provides internet, telephones, cable television and media saw shares rise 6.58 percent to 56.04 Canadian dollars (42.79 U.S. dollars) after adding 93,000 additional cellular phone customers, more than tripling the figure from the same period one year prior. Also increasing year-to-year was adjusted net income, which jumped 15.41 percent.

Meanwhile, shares of BCE Inc., the parent company of Rogers' rival Bell Canada, gained 0.46 percent to close at 58.61 Canadian dollars (44.75 U.S. dollars).

Other groups to finish Thursday higher were: Information Technology (0.53 percent), Financials (0.37 percent), and Industrials (0.35 percent).

Information Technology ticked up for a third straight session, as Waterloo-based firms Open Text Corporation and Blackberry Limited saw shares increase 1.63 percent and 0.10 percent, respectively.

The Canadian dollar shed 0.15 cent to end the session at 0.7635 U.S. dollars.

source: Xinhua