TSX Ends Lower On Growth Concerns, Waning Rate Cut Optimism

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market spent the entire session in the negative territory on Monday, just like it did in the previous session, as fading hopes of U.S. interest rate cuts and lingering worries about geopolitical tensions continued to render the mood bearish.

Cannabis stocks tumbled. Shares from energy, materials, telecommunications and industrial sections too ended mostly lower. Financial and consumer discretionary shares were mostly subdued. A few stocks from information technology and utilities sections found some support.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 79.04 points, or 0.48%, at 16,462.95 after scaling a low of 16,458.47 and a high of 16,495.28 in the session.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 46.86 points, or 0.28%, at 16,541.99, after being down nearly 120 points at 16,469.92 at one stage.

Shares of CannTrust Holdings Inc. tumbled 22.6% after the company said that Health Canada has ruled that the company's greenhouse facility in Pelham, Ontario, is not in compliance with certain regulations and warned of temporary product shortages.

Hexo Corp. (HEXO.TO) declined 2.8%. Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO), Knight Theapeutics (GUD.TO), Green Organic Dutchman Holdings (TGOD.TO), Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO), Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO), Cronos Group (CRON.TO) and Aphria Inc. (APHA.TO) lost 1 to 2%.

Among energy shares, Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO) declined more than 4.5%. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Enerflex (EFX.TO), Husky Energy (HSE.TO) and ARC Resources (ARX.TO) lost 1 to 2.3%.

Encana Corp. (ECA.TO) retreated after a positive start and ended lower by about 2.1%. The company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Newfield Exploration Mid-Continent Inc., signed an agreement to sell its natural gas assets in Oklahoma's Arkoma Basin to an undisclosed buyer for $165 million in cash.

Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) and PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO) ended modestly higher.

Among the stocks in the materials index, Methanex Corp. (MX.TO), Interfor Corp. (IFP.TO), Norbord Inc. (OSB.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Iamgold Corp. (IMG.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) and Nutrien (NTR.TO) lost 1.7 to 3.4%.

In the financial space, Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) declined 1.3%. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF.TO) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) shed 0.3 to 0.7%.

In the U.S. market, stocks came under pressure early in the trading session on Monday and remained mostly lower throughout the day. The weakness in the market was due to waning optimism about a near-term interest rate cut following Friday's much better than expected jobs data.

The major averages ended the day firmly in negative territory but off their lows of the session. The Dow slid 0.4%, the Nasdaq slumped 0.8% and the S&P 500 ended lower by 0.5%.

Stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved sharply lower on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1%, while China's Shanghai Composite Index plunged by 2.6%.

The major European markets ended modestly lower. While the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2%, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both edged down by 0.1%.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended up $0.15, or about 0.3%, at $57.66 a barrel.

Gold futures for August settled at $1,400.00 an ounce, just $0.10 down from previous close.

Silver futures for September ended up $0.049, at $15.050 an ounce, while Copper futures for September settled at $2.6590 per pound, down $0.0020 from previous close.