TSX weakens as China data drags on resource shares

By John Tilak

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index slipped on Monday as weak Chinese economic data weighed on commodity prices and pulled shares of energy and materials companies lower.

China's factory output growth was surprisingly feeble in April and fixed-asset investment slowed, rekindling concerns that the recovery is stalling.

The resource-heavy Toronto market is sensitive to developments in China, a big consumer of commodities from Canada, because of its large exposure to materials and energy stocks.

An unexpected rise in U.S. retail sales in April failed to lift sentiment.

"There's a tremendous amount of nervousness in the markets," said Sal Masionis, a stockbroker at Brant Securities.

"People don't have confidence," he added. "Interest rates are low, there's lots of money out there, but there's nowhere to go."

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.gsptse> was down 75.03 points, or 0.60 percent, at 12,514.06.

Eight of the 10 main sectors on the index were in the red.

The materials sector, which includes mining stocks, lost 1.9 percent as gold stocks shed 2.3 percent.

Bullion prices fell more than 1 percent as the U.S. dollar firmed on signs of an improving economy and as holdings in exchange-traded funds slipped.

Barrick Gold Corp gave back 2.8 percent to C$20.53 and was the biggest negative influence on the market.

The price of oil slipped, pulling energy shares lower 0.5 percent.

BlackBerry gained 2.1 percent to C$16.04, helping lift the information technology sector up 0.8 percent.

(Editing by James Dalgleish)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tsx-may-open-lower-weak-chinese-data-commodities-122817643.html

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