TSX Ends Marginally Down

(RTTNews) - After spending much of the day's session in positive territory, the Canadian market ended marginally down on Friday, slipping into the red in the closing minutes.

The mood was cautious with investors looking ahead to the monetary policy meeting of the Federal Reserve next week. The central bank is widely expected to raise interest rate by 50 basis points.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 22.12 points or 0.11% at 19,947.07, slightly off the day's low of 19,944.80. The index touched a high of 20,086.26.

Consumer discretionary, healthcare and energy stocks were among the notable losers. A few stocks from the technology sector posted strong gains. Shares from the rest of the sectors ended mixed.

Crew Energy (CR.TO) plunged nearly 10% on huge volumes. Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) tumbled 6.5%. MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO) and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) lost 2.2 to 3.3%.

Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) ended 1.2% down. The company announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire certain additional Kaybob Duvernay assets from Paramount Resources Ltd. for cash consideration of $375 million.

Atco Ltd. (ACO.Y.TO) drifted down 5%. Dollarama (DOL.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO), Colliers International (CIGI.TO) and Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO) also ended sharply lower.

Laurentian Bank (LB.TO) climbed 6%. The bank reported a net income of $226.6 million and diluted earnings per share of $4.95 for the year ended October 31, 2022, compared with $57.1 million and $1.03 for the year ended October 31, 2021.

Paramount Resources (POU.TO) surged 4.7%. Stelco Holdings (STLC.TO), Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.TO), Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) and Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO) gained 2.8 to 4%.

Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO) and George Weston (WN.TO) also ended notably higher.