TSX Settles Lower On Trade War Concerns

(RTTNews) - After a weak start and a subsequent rebound from lower levels, the Canadian stock market faltered again and despite another mild recovery, eventually ended marginally down on Thursday.

Worries about escalating trade tensions between the United States and China and lower commodity prices weighed on the market. Investors also digested a report from Statistics Canada that said 460,000 people received regular Employment Insurance benefits in June. That was up 3,800, or 0.8%, from May.

Markets across the globe await the outcome of the trade talks between the Chinese delegation led by the country's Commerce Vice Minister Wang Shouwen and David Malpass, the U.S. Treasury under secretary for international affairs.

The benchmark S&P/TSX ended down 20.55 points, or 0.13%, at 16,326.79, after scaling a high of 16,358.56 and a low of 16,309.15 intraday. On Wednesday, the index closed up by 65.52 points or 0.40%, at 16,362.49.

Gold stocks declined after the yellow metal ended lower today after four successive days of gains. IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) tanked 6.55%, Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) declined 2.8%, Goldcorp (G.TO) also ended 2.8% down, Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) eased by about 3.1%, B2Gold (BTO.TO) ended 3.7% down and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) shed about 0.8%.

The Capped Materials Index ended 1.53% down. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) declined by 3.3%, Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) lost 2.2%, Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) ended down 2%, First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) lost 2.8% and Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (WPM.TO) shed about 2.4%.

Among energy stocks, Baytex Energy Corp. (BTE.TO) climbed up nearly 8% after the company announced the closing of the strategic combination with Raging River Exploration Inc.(RRX.TO), which too jumped nearly 8%. Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TOU.TO) declined nearly 1%.

The Capped Consumer Discretionary Index shed 0.6%. Restaurant Brands International Inc. (QSR.TO), Magna International Inc. (MG.TO), Shaw Communications Inc. (SJR.B.TO) and Gildan Activewear Inc. (GIL.TO) ended lower by 0.6 to 1%, while Canada .ldings Inc. (GOOS.TO) ended 2.6% up.

Among bank stocks, Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce (CM.TO) gained 0.55%. The bank said its bottom line came in at C$1.37 billion, or C$3.01 per share in the third quarter of this financial year, as compared to C$1.10 billion, or C$2.60 per share, in last year's third quarter.

National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) ended lower by 0.2 to 0.5%, while Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) ended flat.

In the Information Technology space, Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) ended 2.3% up and Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO) gained 1.8%. CGI Group Inc. (GBI.TO), Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO), Constellation Software Inc. (CSU.TO), BlackBerry (BB.TO), Descartes Systems Group Inc. (DSG.TO) and Mitel Networks Corporation (MNW.TO) gained 0.4% - 1.2%.

Asian markets were mostly sluggish on Thursday and major European markets ended mostly lower amid cautious moves by investors amid mounting worries about U.S.-China trade war and its likely adverse impact on the global economy.

In economic news, flash data from IHS Markit showed Germany's private sector activity to have grown at the fastest pace in six months in August, with the composite output index improving to a score of 55.7 in the month, from 55.0 in July.

The services Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 55.2 from 54.1 in July. The score was expected to rise marginally to 54.3.

The manufacturing PMI slid to 56.1 from 56.9 in the previous month. Economists had forecast the index to fall moderately to 56.5.

Phil Smith, principal economist at IHS Markit said, "German business continued to display remarkable resilience during August, with the latest PMI data going some way to dispel any fears about a global trade slowdown and its impact on the health of the economy."

Meanwhile, the euro area private sector continued to expand in August, according to IHS Markit. The composite output index rose marginally to 54.4 in August from 54.3 in July. But the score was slightly below the forecast of 54.5. The services Purchasing Managers' Index also came in at 54.4, up from 54.2 a month ago.

The manufacturing PMI fell unexpectedly to a 21-month low of 54.6 from 55.1 in July. Within the eurozone, growth accelerated in France and Germany but slowed across the rest of the single-currency area.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims edged down to 210,000 in the week ended August 18th, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 212,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 215,000.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a separate report showing an unexpected decrease in new home sales in the month of July. The report said new home sales dropped by 1.7% to an annual rate of 627,000 in July after tumbling by 2.4% to a revised rate of 638,000 in June. Economists had expected new home sales to climb by 2.2%.

In commodities, crude oil futures for October delivery ended at $67.83 a barrel, down 3 cents from previous close, after having jumped over 3% in the previous session.

Gold futures for December ended down $9.30, or 0.8%, at $1,194.00 an ounce.

Silver futures for September ended lower by $0.208, at $14.542 an ounce and Copper futures for September settled at $2.6545 per pound, down $0.0190 from previous close.