TSX Ends Lower For 2nd Straight Day

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market closed weak on Wednesday, led by losses in technology and healthcare shares.

The mood was cautious amid continued rise in coronavirus cases across the world, setback on the vaccine front after late-stage trials of a couple of coronavirus vaccines were paused due to safety reasons, and the impasse over U.S. fiscal stimulus.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 55.43 points or 0.34% at 16,455.40, after scaling a low of 16,436.79 and a high of 16,575.41 intraday.

Materials shares had a fairly good outing after gold prices moved higher. Industrial, energy and consumer discretionary stocks closed mostly flat. Financial stocks ended mixed.

Among the most actively traded stocks, Aphria Inc. (APHA.TO) declined 3.6% and Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) shed about 2.9%. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC.TO) and BlackBerry (BB.TO) lost 1 to 2.1%.

Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) gained 4%. Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO) ended 3.1% up. Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) and Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) gained 0.7 to 1.25%.

Ritchie Bros Auctioneers (RBA.TO), Cogeco Communications (CCA.TO), Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO), Onex Corporation (ONEX.TO) and Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) lost 1.85 to 3.3%.

On the U.S. stimulus front, comments from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin offsetting recent optimism about a new stimulus bill.

In remarks to the Milken Institute Global Conference, Mnuchin said getting something done on a new stimulus bill before the election "would be difficult."

"We continue to make progress on certain issues, but on certain issues we continue to be far apart," Mnuchin said about negotiations with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has also cast doubts about whether a bill can pass before the election and recently announced plans to vote on a more limited relief package.