TSX Ends Lower, Posts Biggest Weekly Loss In 8 Months

(RTTNews) - After a weak start and a subsequent fall to lower levels, the Canadian stock market briefly rebounded into positive territory, but faltered again and ended on a negative note on Friday.

A sell-off on Wall Street amid concerns over corporate earnings after some top companies, including Amazon and Alphabet reported results that fell short of expectations, and mostly weak Asian and European markets rendered the mood bearish on Bay Street.

Disappointing corporate earnings reports, lingering concerns about global economic growth due to trade war and geopolitical worries continued to dent investor sentiment.

With today's loss, the market shed about 3.76% this week, the biggest weekly drop in about eight month.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down by 35.82 points, or 0.24%, at 14,888.26, after scaling a low of 14,732.02 and a high of 14,950.84 in the session.

On Thursday, the index ended with a marginal gain of 14.95 points, or 0.10%, at 14,924.08,

Healthcare, consumer staples, information technology, bank and telecommunications stocks were among the prominent losers. Energy, industrial, real estate and financial stocks ended on a mixed note, while materials stocks moved up, tracking gold's gains.

The Capped Healthcare Index declined by about 2.2%. Aphria Inc. (APH.TO) ended 4r.75% down, Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB.TO) ended down nearly 4% and Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) ended 1.75% down.

The Capped Information Technology Index ended lower by a little over 1%. CGI Group Inc. (GIB.A.TO), Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO), Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO), BlackBerry (BB.TO), Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO) and Celestica Inc. (CLS.TO) lost 1 to 2.5%, while Constellation Software Inc. (CSU.TO) gained 1.35%.

The Capped Telecommunications Index shed 1.39%, with BCE Inc. (BCE.TO), TELUS Corporation (T.TO), Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI.B.TO), Shaw Communications Inc. (SJR.B.TO), Quebecor Inc. (QBR.B.TO), Cineplex Inc. (CGX.TO) and Cogeco Communications Inc. (CCA.TO) losing between 1% and 2%.

Among bank stocks, Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) ended lower by 0.7 to 0.9%, while Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) edged down marginally.

In the energy space, Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Vermilion Energy Inc. (VET.TO) and Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TOU.TO) gained 0.5 to 1%, while PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO) climbed up 3.2%.

Encana Corporation (ECA.TO) ended nearly 2.5 percent down, Imperial Oil and Husky Energy also ended weak.

Among materials stocks, First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) jumped more than 7%, Methanex Corporation (MX.TO) added about 3.75%, Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) surged up 2.5%, Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) gained nearly 4%, Kinross Gold (K.TO) advanced by 2.5% and Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (WPM.TO) gained 1.25%, while Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) declined by 6.6%.

Among other markets, Asian markets ended mixed and European markets ended notably lower on Friday amid worries about growth. According to survey of professional forecasters, published by the European Central Bank, the euro area economy is projected to grow at a slightly slower pace this year and next, according to survey of professional forecasters, published by the European Central Bank.

Real GDP growth expectations revised down for 2018 to 2% from 2.2% and that for next year to 1.8% from 1.9%. Meanwhile, the estimate for 2020 was retained at 1.6%.

U.S. stocks declined sharply, weighed down by some disappointing earnings reports, and despite coming off their lows, ended notably lower.

The Commerce Department said real gross domestic product advanced by 3.5% in the third quarter after surging up by 4.2% in the second quarter. Economists had expected GDP growth to slow to 3.3%.

The slowdown in the pace of growth in the third quarter came after the jump in the second quarter represented the fastest growth since a 4.9% spike in the third quarter of 2014.

On the inflation front, the Commerce Department said its reading on core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, showed price growth slowed to 1.6% in the third quarter from 2.1% in the second quarter.

In commodities, crude oil futures for December ended up $0.26, or 0.4%, at $67.59 a barrel.

Gold futures for December ended up $3,40, or 0.3%, at $1,235.80 an ounce.

Silver futures for December ended up $0.070, at $14.700 an ounce.

Copper futures for December settled at $2.7410 per pound, down $0.0135 from previous close.