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Canada Stocks Fluctuate as Gold Shares Fall, Oil Companies Gain
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By Matt Walcoff

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks swung between gains and losses, shirking a global rally, as the unexpected decline in the U.S. unemployment rate drove energy shares higher and sent gold producers to the steepest retreat since June.

EnCana Corp. and Canadian Oil Sands Trust advanced more than 2 percent as crude oil added 1.6 percent in New York following the U.S. Labor Department report showing the jobless rate fell to 10 percent in the world’s biggest economy. Bullion companies including Barrick Gold Corp. in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index plunged 4.9 percent as the jobs report bolstered optimism about the global recovery.

The S&P/TSX lost 18.01 points, or 0.2 percent, to 11,618.54 at 10:31 a.m. in Toronto for the worst performance among benchmarks for developed markets that were open when the U.S. jobs report was released. The S&P 500 Index surged 1.3 percent.

Canada’s benchmark stock index gained 29 percent this year through yesterday as gold prices headed for a ninth consecutive annual advance. Commodity-linked companies make up 47 percent of the value of Canadian stocks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Employers in the U.S. cut 11,000 jobs in November, the fewest since the steepest recession since the 1930s began. In Canada, employment rose by 79,100 -- five times more than the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey -- as the jobless rate fell to 8.5 percent from October’s 8.6 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matt Walcoff in Toronto at [e-mail].
Last Updated: December 4, 2009 10:39 EST