TSX Ends Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended slightly weak on Friday, after struggling for direction almost right through the day's session.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 15.65 points or 0.08% at 19,527.30. The index touched a high of 19,614.78 and a low of 19,507.75.

Consumer staples, materials and real estate stocks were slightly weak, while healthcare and financial stocks found some support. Stocks from other sectors ended mixed.

Consumer staples stocks Weston George (WN.TO), Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.B.TO) and Metro Inc (MRU.TO) lost 1.6%, 1.1% and 1%, respectively.

Real estate stocks Real Matters (REAL.TO) and FirstService Corp (FSV.TO) declined 3.2% and 2.6%, respectively.

In the materials section, Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Canfor Corp (CFP.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) and Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) shed 1.7 to 3.3%.

Technology stocks Hut 8 Mining (HUT.TO), Tecsys (TCS.TO) and BlackBerry (BB.TO) lost 2.7 to 4%. Lightspeed Pos (LSPD.TO) gained more than 6%.

Among energy stocks, Parex Resources (PXT.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO) and Arc Resources (ARX.TO) declined, while Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) and Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) moved higher.

Among bank stocks, CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) and Laurentian Bank (LB.TO) posted gains.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed retail sales in Canada rose by 3.6% in March, after rising by 4.8% in the previous month. Year-on-year, retail sales were up 23.7% in March, the data showed.

Retail sales ex-autos were up 4.3% in March after rising 4.8% in the previous month.

Wholesale sales in Canada likely decreased by 0.8% month-over-month in April, following a 2.8% rise in the previous month, according to preliminary estimates.