TSX Ends Marginally Up, Gains 0.5% In Week

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended marginally down on Friday after spending the entire duration of the day's session in negative territory with investors largely making cautious moves.

Earnings updates and the data on Canadian GDP and industrial product prices provided some direction. Worries about the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus infections and Amazon's disappointing earnings weighed on sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down by 23.98 points or 0.12% at 20,287.80, nearly 80 points off the day's low of 20,208.19. The index gained about 0.5% in the week.

Healthcare stocks declined sharply. Energy and financial shares were the other notable losers. Consumer discretionary, industrials, consumer staples and utilities shares found support.

Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO), down 5%, was the most prominent losers in the Capped Healthcare Index. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (AUP.TO) ended lower by 3.5%. Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO), Organigram Holdings (OGI.TO), Cronos Group (CRON.TO) and Trillium Therapeutics (TRIL.TO) lost 1.4 to 2.8%.

Among energy stocks, Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) declined nearly 2%. The company said it earned $366 million or 50 cents per share in the second quarter, compared with a net loss of $526 million or 72 cents per shares in the year-ago quarter.

Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO) and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) shed 1.3 to 2%.

SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (SNC.TO) shares gained 3.6% after the company reported second-quarter net income of C$45.72 million, compared to last year's loss of C$111.65 million.

Telus Corp. (T.TO) reported second-quarter net income of $335 million, up 15.5% over a net quarter of $290 million recorded in the second quarter of the previous year. Telus shares gained 0.8%.

George Weston Ltd. (WN.TO) reported adjusted net earnings of $272 million for the second quarter, an increase of $133 million from the year-ago quarter, primarily due to the improvement in the underlying operating performance of Lobalaw. The stock edged down marginally.

Restaurant Brands International Inc. (QSR.TO) shares gained 3.3%. The company reported adjusted net income of $358 million for the second quarter of this financial year, compared to net income of $154 million a year ago.

A report from Statistics Canada said the Canadian economy likely expanded 0.7% month-on-month in June. In May, the GDP contracted 0.3% following an upwardly revised 0.5% decline in the previous month, the report said.

Another data from Statistics Canada showed the industrial product price index in Canada was flat in June, compared to initial estimates of a 0.4% fall. Producer prices increased 16.8% in June over the same month in the previous year.

Raw materials prices index increased 3.9% from a month earlier in June, rising for a ninth straight month. Year-over-year, the index was up 38.1% in June.