Toronto market closes with energy stocks down

Purvi Agarwal and Fergal Smith

(Reuters) – Canada's main stock index lost a second day in a row on Thursday as lower oil prices weighed on energy stocks, but the index clawed back much of its earlier decline.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended at 22,110.11, down 89.02 points, or 0.4%, after hitting an intraday low of 21,985.68 since March 27.

The recovery from session lows came as data on US producer prices revived hopes that inflation would remain on a cooling trend. Investors were surprised on Wednesday by data showing that US consumer prices rose more than expected last month.

“Anything that shows that inflation is not as persistent as yesterday's publication will be good for the prospects for a US (interest rate) cut, which will be good for our (Canadian) future,” said Scott Blair, chief investment officer at CWB Wealth.

The energy sector fell 1.9% as oil prices fell 1.4% to $85.02 a barrel. Oil's latest rally stalled last Friday after crude hit a six-month high.

Heavyweight financials also fell, ending 0.4% lower, while industrials lost 0.9%.

Technology was one of the bright spots, up 0.5. And the materials group, which includes metals producers and fertilizer companies, added 0.3% as gold climbed to a new record high.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Ravi Prakash Kumar and Jonathan Oatis)