TSX Ends Modestly Lower After Choppy Session

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended modestly lower on Monday, after swinging between gains and losses almost right through the session.

Uncertainty about the upcoming trade negotiations between the U.S. and China making any significant progress weighed on sentiment. Sluggish commodity prices hurt as well.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which rose to 16,474.67 around late morning, after having dropped to 16,394.49 earlier in the session, eventually ended the session at 16,421.75, recording a loss of 27.60 points, or 0.17%.

On Friday, the benchmark index ended up 80.32 points, or 0.49%, at 16,449.35

Healthcare, materials and consumer discretionary shares were among the prominent losers. Industrial, energy and financial shares were mostly subdued, while shares from real estate and utilities sections found modest support.

In the healthcare space, Hexo Corp (HEXO.TO) declined 6.6% and Aurora Cannabis (ACB.To) ended down 5.8%. Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) and Cronos Group Inc. (CRON.TO) shed 2% and 1.25%, respectively, while Sienna Senior Living (SIA.TO) ended up 1.1%.

Among the shares in the materials index, Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO) declined 4.3%. Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Yamana Gold (YRI.TO), Semafo (SMF.TO), Norbord Inc. (OSB.TO), Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO) and B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO) lost 1 to 2.5%.

Consumer discretionary shares Dollarama Inc. (DOL.TO), The Stars Group (TSGI.TO), Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) and Hudsons Bay (HBC.TO) ened notably lower.

In the energy space, Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO) declined 4.8%. Baytex Energy (BTE.TO) ended down 4.4%, while Parex Resources (PXT.TO) and Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) ended lower by 2.2% and 2%, respectively.

Encana Corp (ECA.TO) gained about 1.7%, while Husky Energy (HSE.TO) and Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) ended with modest gains.

Among financial stocks, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Power Corporation of Canada (POW.TO) and Laurentian Bank (LB.TO) closed modestly higher. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) declined 0.7%, while Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO), Manulife Financial (MFC.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) ended with modest losses.

Information technology shares Celestica Inc. (CLS.TO), Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO), Quarterhill Inc. (QTRH.TO) and BlackBerry (BB.TO) declined 1.1 to 1.6%.

U.S. stocks ended weak after a lackluster session as traders largely seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of resumption of trade talks between the U.S. and China.

A report from Bloomberg News said Chinese officials are signaling they're increasingly reluctant to agree to the broad trade deal being pursued by President Donald Trump.

Citing people familiar with the discussions, Bloomberg said senior Chinese officials have indicated the range of topics they're willing to discuss has narrowed considerably.

The Dow declined 0.4%, the Nasdaq ended down 0.3% and the S&P 500 closed lower by 0.5%.

Markets across the Asia-Pacific region ended mixed, while European markets closed higher.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $0.06 at $52.75 a barrel, after having surged to $54.06 earlier in the day.

Gold futures for December ended down $8.50, or about 0.6%, at $1,504.40 an ounce.

Silver futures for December ended down $0.085, at $17.540 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $2.5770 per pound, gaining $0.0145.