TSX Ends Lower For 3rd Straight Day

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended notably lower on Monday, with shares across the board reeling under pressure amid persisting worries about global economic growth and on weak commodity prices.

The sell-off on Wall Street where technology stocks plunged on a significant drop in holiday sales of Apple Inc., and stocks from other sectors too were wilting under pressure, rendered the mood bearish on Bay Street. Worries about the impact of the ongoing trade disputes weighed as well.

Information technology, materials, energy, healthcare, consumer discretionary and industrials stocks ended mostly lower. Financial stocks too were weak. Shares from telecommunications and utilities sections found some support.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 118.04 points, or 0.77%, at 15,156.40. The index scaled a low of 15,145.64 and a high of 15,263.74 in the session. On Friday, the index closed down by 83.03 points, or 0.54%, at 15,274.44.

The Capped Energy Index shed 1.2%. Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TOU.TO) ended 5.4% down, Encana Corporation (ECA.TO) declined by about 4.6%, ARC Resources (ARX.TO) ended lower by 3.5%, Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) ended 2.6% down and Husky Energy Inc. (HSE.TO) eased by 2.1%. Baytex Energy Corp. (BTE.TO) lost nearly 5% and Crescent Point Energy Corp. (CPG.TO) ended 2.3% down, Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) gained 1.85%.

The Capped Materials Index lost 1.69%. Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) lost 2.5%, Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) ended 2.1% down, Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (WPM.TO) declined by nearly 3%, First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) ended down 2.7% and Kinross Gold Corporation (K.TO) eased by about 2.3%.

The Capped Information Technology Index shed 2.13%. Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO) plunged by about 7.7%. Descartes Systems Group Inc. (DSG.TO) declined by 3% to 3.7%. Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO), BlackBerry (BB.TO) and Celestica Inc. (CLS.TO) lost 3 to 3.7%.

Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) ended lower by 2.3%. CGI Group Inc. (GIB.TO) and Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO) also closed with notable losses.

Among bank stocks, Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Toronto-Dominon Bank (TD.TO), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) shed 0.5 to 0.9%. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) ended lower by about 1.1%, while Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) declined marginally.

The Capped Healthcare Index declined more than 2%. Aphria Inc. (APHA.TO) ended 9.5% down. Bausch Health Companies Inc. (BHC.TO) ended 3.5% down, Extendicare Inc. (EXE.TO) closed lower by 2.7% and Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB.TO) shed 1.7%. Hexo Corp. (HEXO.TO) declined by about 5.2%.

In the consumer discretionary space, The Stars Group Inc. (GOOS.TO) declined by 4.3%, Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO) ended 2.8% down, The Stars Group Inc. (TSGI.TO) ended lower by 3.1%, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation (GC.TO) eased by 2% and BRP Inc. (BRP.TO) dropped by 2.2%.

In the industrials space, Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) ended 5.6% down despite the Bombardier - Alstom consortium bagging a new order for about $448 million CDN, to supply 153 additional AZUR metro cars for Montreal.

Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) both lost about 1.4%.

U.S. stocks ended sharply lower weighed by a notable drop in shares of Apple after the company's iPhone parts supplier Lumentum cut its fiscal second quarter guidance. Concerns over global economic growth and imminent interest rate hikes also contributed to the sharp plunge on Wall Street. The Dow and the Nasdaq plummeted by 2.3% and 2.8%, respectively, while the S&P 500 shed about 2%.

The European markets ended weak amid concerns over the budget stalemate between Italy and European Union as the deadline to present a revised budget plan by the Italian government neared. Asian markets ended on a mixed note.

In commodities, crude oil futures for December settled lower by $0.26, or 0.4%, at $59.93 a barrel, the lowest settlement since February 2018.

Gold futures for December ended down $5.10, or 0.4%, at $1,203.50 an ounce, the lowest settlement in nearly five weeks.

Silver futures for December ended lower by $0.129, at $14.011 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $2,6765 per pound, losing $0.0080 in the session.