TSX Ends Modestly Lower On Growth Concerns

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market faltered after a positive start on Friday and stayed weak till the end of the session as investors cut down positions amid rising concerns about global economic slowdown after data showed China's GDP grew at the slowest pace in nearly three decades in the third quarter.

Some disappointing quarterly results, doubts about Brexit deal passing a crucial vote on Saturday and weak crude oil and gold prices too contributed to market's decline.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 49.18 points, or 0.3%, at 16,377.12, near the day's low. The index touched a high of 16,462.12 in early trades.

The index, which ended the previous three sessions flat, shed 0.24% in the holiday shortened week.

Consumer discretionary, information technology and healthcare shares declined sharply. Mirroring the sell-off in these sectors, the indices tracking their performance fell 2.86%, 2.67% and 2.62%, respectively.

The Capped Energy Index shed 1.13%. Consumer staples and real estate stocks were mostly subdued. Shares from materials, telecommunications and financial sections did not fare any significantly better either.

In the consumer discretionary space, Gildan Activewear shares plunged nearly 26% after the company cut its 2019 guidance after warning its third quarter results will be lower due to weaker demand for imprintable apparel. The company said it expects earnings to drop by about 7% to 51 cents per share in the third quarter.

Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO), Martinrea International (MRE.TO), Mty Food Group (MTY.TO) and Sleep Country Canada Holdings (ZZZ.TO) lost 1.7 to 2.7%.

Among information technology shares, Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO) declined 5.4%. Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO) and Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO) ended lower by 4.1% and 3.85%, respectively. Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO), Blackberry (BB.TO) and Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) also declined sharply.

Among the stocks in the Healthcare Index, Cannabis shares Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO), Cronos Group (CRON.TO) and Hexo Corp. (HEXO.TO) lost 5.5 to 6%. Aphria Inc. (APHA.TO) declined 3.25% and Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) ended lower by 2.7%.

Among other prominent losers elsewhere, Corus Entertainment Inc. (CJR.B.TO) plummeted more than 10% after the company reported a substantial drop in earnings. Corus reported net income of $22.9 million or $0.11 per basic share for the third quarter ended August 2019, compared to net income of $156.1 million or $0.74 per basic share in the year-ago quarter.

Green Organic Dutchman Holdings (TGOD.TO) plunged 14.4%. Encana Corp (ECA.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO) and Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) ended lower by 1.8 to 3.6%.

Norbord Inc. (OSB.TO), Pattern Energy (PEGI.TO), Waste Connections (WCN.TO), Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO), West Fraser Timber (WFT.TO) and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) moved up.

U.S. stocks ended notably lower amid concerns about the global economic outlook following the release of disappointing Chinese data.

China's GDP grew 6% year-on-year in the third quarter after rising 6.2% a quarter earlier. This was the slowest growth since the early 1990s. Growth was forecast to slow marginally to 6.1%.

The Dow ended down 1%, the Nasdaq settled lower by 0.8% and the S&P 500 dipped 0.4%.

The major European markets and most of the markets across the Asia-Pacific region too ended lower.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for November ended down $0.15, or about 0.3%, at $53.78 a barrel.

Gold futures for December ended down $4.20, or about 0.3%, at $1,494.10 an ounce.

Silver futures for December ended at $17.578 an ounce, down $0.034 from previous close, while Copper futures for December closed higher by $0.0385, at $2.6360 per pound.