TSX Ends Lower For 2nd Straight Day

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market came off the session's lows on Friday, but still finished on a negative note as several shares from the energy section reeled under selling pressure due to weak oil prices.

A few top stocks from the financial sector too posted notable losses and contributed to market's weak close.

The mood was cautious right through the session amid worries over the economic impact of rising coronavirus infections and imposition of strict lockdown restrictions in several places across the world.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 70.29 points or 0.39% at 17,845.91, nearly 60 points off the day's low of 17,790.23. The index shed about 0.35% in the week.

The Capped Energy Index shed about 2.1%. Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), down 5.6%, was the biggest loser. Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) ended 4.75% down, while Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO) and Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO) lost 3 to 3.7%. Suncor Energy (SU.TO) and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) also declined sharply.

In the financial section, Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) shed about 3.4%, while Power Corporation of Canada (POW.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), Onex Corp (ONEX.TO), Manulife Financial (MFC.TO), Laurentian Bank (LB.TO), CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO) and Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO) ended lower by 0.8 to 1.3%.

Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO), Cnooc Limited (CNU.TO), CargoJet (CJT.TO), BRP Inc. (DOO.TO) and Nutrien (NTR.TO) were among the other prominent losers in the session.

Docebo Inc. (DCBO.TO), Ballard Power Systems (BLDP.TO), Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) and BlackBerry (BB.TO) ended with impressive gains.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed retail sales in Canada increased by 1.3% month-over-month in November of 2020, beating market forecasts for a rise of 0.1%. Compared to sales in November 2019, retail Sales increased 7.5% percent in November 2020.

Retail Sales Excluding Autos in Canada increased 2.1% month-over-month in November, well above market forecasts of 0.3%.

Another data from Statistics Canada showed wholesale sales in Canada shrank 1.7% month-over-month in December.