TSX Ends Marginally Down Again

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended marginally down on Tuesday, extending weakness to a second straight session, due largely to heavy selling in energy shares following a sharp drop in crude oil prices.

Uncertainty about a potential interim trade deal between the U.S.-China too contributed to the subdued trend in the market.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite index, which was briefly up in positive territory around mid afternoon, ended down 13.71 points, or 0.08%, at 17,011.40.

The index touched a low of 16,963.91 and a high of 17,033.91 in the session.

In the energy space, Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Encana Corp (ECA.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO) and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) lost 2.4 to 5.2%. ARC Resources (ARX.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO) and PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO) also ended notably lower.

Among the stocks in the industrial section, Ballard Power Systems (BLDP.TO) declined nearly 10%. SNC Lavalin (SNC.TO) ended down 6% and Mullen Group (MTL.TO) shed about 4.5%.

Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) declined 1.9%. Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) shares ended lower by nearly 1%.

Cannabis shares were back in demand after recent losses. Hexo Corp (HEXO.TO) ended stronger by 16.1%. Aphria Inc. (APHA.TO) gained nearly 13%, Cronos Group (CRON.TO) gained 9%, Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) advanced 8.2% and Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) notched up a gain of 3.7%.

In the materials section, Osisko Gold Royalties (OR.TO), Alamos Gold (AGI.TO), Alacer Gold Corp (ASR.TO), Semafo (SMF.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), Kirkland Lake Gold (KL.TO), Barrick Gold (ABX.TO), Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) and Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) gained 1.2 to 4%.

U.S. stocks ended mixed after a choppy session. Disappointing results from Home Depot weighed on sentiment. The Nasdaq edged up 0.2%, the Dow declined 0.4% and the S&P 500 edged down 0.1%.

Stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region and Europe too ended mixed on Tuesday.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended down $1.84, or 3.2%, at $55.21 a barrel.

Gold futures for December ended up $2.40, or about 0.2%, at $1,474.30 an ounce.

Silver futures for December ended up $0.118, or 0.7%, at $17.118 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $2.6565 per pound, gaining $0.0365, or 1.4%, for the session.