Canadian stock market closes flat on rising household debt

 Canada's main stock market little changed Friday as official data showed that Canadian households' debt burden edged up in the second quarter.
Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 2.74 points or 0.02 percent to 15,531.58 points.
The energy sector decreased 0.44 percent when the leading companies Suncor Energy Inc. was down 0.85 percent to 42.92 Canadian dollars (about 38.69 U.S. dollars), and Talisman Energy Inc. lost 1.85 percent to 10.64 percent due to a lower oil price.
Although the positive economic data from the United States helped offset the decline in the energy sector in the midday trading, the latest Canadian household debt data still weighed on market sentiments. Statistics Canada said on Friday that the country's household credit debt -- consumer credit, mortgages and other loans -- increased 1.3 per cent in the second quarter, outpacing the growth in disposable income. Consequently, leverage, as measured by household credit market debt to disposable income, edged up to 163.6 percent in the second quarter.
In other sectors, Industrials moved down 0.37 percent, and Telecom gave back 0.34 percent.
Financials added 0.41 percent with Toronto-Dominion Bank up 0. 31 percent to 57.77 Canadian dollars. Info Tech grew 0.52 percent as the smartphone maker BlackBerry edged up 0.42 percent to 11.96 Canadian dollars, following a 6.06 percent hike on Thursday.
On the currency front, the Canadian dollar Friday went down to 0.9014 U.S. dollar from 0.9052 U.S. dollar on Thursday.