TSX Ends Weak For 3rd Straight Day

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended weak on Thursday, declining for a third straight day, as lingering concerns about economic slowdown, and fears of a U.S. debt default rendered the mood bearish.

Fitch Ratings placed the United States "AAA" credit on "rating watch negative," signaling downside risks to U.S. creditworthiness.

Investors digested earnings announcements from some leading banks. Despite a surge in U.S. tech sector after NVIDIA Corporation forecast $11 billion in sales in the current quarter, technology stocks in the Canadian market are not attracting any significantly strong support.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which fell to 19,717.36, ended the session with a loss of 153.61 points or 0.77% at 19,774.08.

Weak crude oil prices triggered some heavy selling at several counters in the energy sector. The Energy Capped Index fell 2.22%.

Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) ended 5.34% down. Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), MEG Energy Corp (MEG.TO), Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO) and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) lost 2.4 to 4.2%.

Materials shares Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.TO) and Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO) ended lower by 5.83% and 5.76%, respectively. Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), First Majestic Silver Corp (FR.TO), CCL Industries (CCL.B.TO), Ssr Mining Corp (SSRM.TO), Methanex Corp (MX.TO) and B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO) lost 2.5 to 4%.

Communications shares Rogers Communications (RCI.B.TO), Telus Corp (T.TO) and BCE Inc (BCE.TO) lost 3.1%, 1.7% and 1.52%, respectively.

Among healthcare stocks, Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) plunged 14.2%. Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) ended 3.3% down, and Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) ended lower by 1.1%.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) today reported net income of $3.6 billion for the quarter ended April 30, 2023 , down $604 million or 14% from the prior year. The stock ended lower by 1.8%.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) declined 4.2% after the bank reported adjusted net income of $3,752 million for the second quarter of the current financial year, compared with adjusted net income of $3,714 million in the year-ago quarter.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) gained more than 2%. The bank reported adjusted net income of $1,627 million for the second quarter of this fiscal, compared with adjusted net income of $1,652 million a year ago.

On the economic front, a report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business showed Canada's CFIB Business Barometer long-term optimism index increased to 56.4 in May, the highest since June last year from 55.7 in April.

Preliminary data from Statistics Canada showed manufacturing sales in Canada likely dropped 0.2% month-over-month in April, shifting from a 0.7% rise in March.

A separate data from Statistics Canada showed average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees in Canada rose 1.4% year-on-year to $1,185 in March, after an upwardly revised 1.9% advance in the prior month.