Canadian stocks drop on disappointing earnings results

The Canadian stock market closed lower Wednesday, weighed down by disappointing earnings results from major companies as the earnings season kicked off. The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 73.08 points, or 0.57 percent, to close at 12,672.30, Canadian oil sands operator Cenovus Energy Inc posted a 179- million-Canadian-dollar net profit in the second quarter on early Wednesday and said its oil sands operating costs will be higher than forecast this year. Its shares fell 5.46 percent to 30.49 Canadian dollars apiece at closing. Rail carrier giant Canadian Pacific Railway said its second- quarter net income rose to 252 million Canadian dollars, or 1.43 Canadian dollars per share, which is less than the market expectation of 1.49 Canadian dollars per share. Its stock dipped 2. 74 Canadian dollars to 127.44 Canadian dollars. Gold stocks were also lackluster as the gold prices fell. Goldcorp Inc. faded 4.72 percent to 29.24 Canadian dollars per share. Barrick Gold Corporation lost 5.41 percent to 17.61 Canadian dollars. In other corporate news, the Montreal-based Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace said the first flight of its new C Series commercial jet will occur in the coming weeks, without giving a specific date. The company had originally planned the first flight by the end of July and Bombardier Inc. shares lost 1. 18 percent. At closing, the Canadian dollar moved down to 0.9700 U.S. dollars at 5 p.m. local time (2100 GMT), compared with 0.9721 U.S. dollars on Tuesday.