TSX Ends Slightly Up

(RTTNews) - After spending much of the day's session in negative territory, the Canadian market emerged into positive territory in the closing minutes on Tuesday to finish with a small gain.

Healthcare and energy stocks declined sharply. Materials, consumer staples and information technology stocks turned in a mixed performance. A few stocks from real estate, industrials, utilities and financial sectors closed with strong gains.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up by 8.39 points or 0.04% at 20,173.35. The index touched a low of 20,081.44 in early trades.

The Capped Healthcare Index shed 3.3%. Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) and Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) lost 6.7% and 6.5%, respectively. Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO), Organigram Holdings (OGI.TO) and Trillium Therapeutics (TRIL.TO) ended lower by 4.7%, 4.3% and 3.7%, respectively. Cronos Group (CRON.TO) and Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) also declined sharply.

Among energy stocks, Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) and Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) ended lower by 3 to 4.1%. MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) lost 2 to 2.8%.

Colliers International Group (CIGI.TO), up 2.6%, and CDN Apartment (CAR.UN.TO), up 2%, were among the top gainers in the real estate sector.

Tfi International Inc. (TFII.TO) shares, up 7.15%, topped the list of gainers in the industrials section. The company reported second quarter net income from continuing operations of $251.1 million, up almost 400% from $50.5 million in the year-ago quarter, while adjusted net income came in at $137.2 million, up 104% compared to $67.2 million a year ago.

Mullen Group (MTL.TO), Transcontinental Inc. (TCL.A.TO), Gfl International (GFL.TO) and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) were among the other major gainers in the industrials space.

Brookfield Renewables Partners (BEP.UN.TO), up 2.75%, was the top gainers in the Utilities Index. Boralex (BLX.TO) and Canadian Utilities (CU.TO) also closed with impressive gains.

Among financials, Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) and CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO) closed modestly higher.

Teck Resources Limited (TECK_B.TO) shares edged down marginally. The company reported second-quarter profit of C$260 million or C$0.48 per share compared to a loss of C$149 million or C$0.28 per share last year, reflecting positive market backdrop of improved commodity prices and progress on key projects. Revenues for the quarter grew to C$2.56 billion from C$1.72 billion in the prior year.

Celestica Inc. (CLS.TO) shares soared more than 16%. The company announced after trading hours on Monday that its revenue for the second quarter decreased by 5% to $1.42 billion from $1.49 billion in the second quarter of 2020.