TSX Ends Notably Lower As Resources Shares Tumble

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market opened weak and languished in negative territory right through the session on Thursday, weighed down by losses in energy and mining sections due to some disappointing earnings results.

Healthcare shares were the other notable losers. Telecommunications shares were weak as well. Consumer staples section saw some buying, while information technology, financial and industrial shares turned in a mixed performance.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 123.64 points, or 0.74%, at 16,488.20, around 30 points off the day's low of 16,458.40. The index touched a high of 16,613.09 in the session.

Husky Energy (HSE.TO) declined more than 6% after the company reported net earnings of $370 million for the quarter ended June 2019, compared to $448 million in the year-ago quarter.

Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) ended 1.75% down after the company's net profit fell short of expectations due to production cuts and a drop in refining margins.

Precision Drilling (PD.TO) shed nearly 4% after the company reported another quarterly loss.

Encana Corp. (ECA.TO) ended lower by 5.5%, while Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO), Parex Resources (PXT.TO) and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) declined 3 to 3.3%.

Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TOU.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO) and ARC Resources (ARX.TO) also declined sharply.

Among the miners, Oceanagold Corp. (OGC.TO) declined more than 6%. Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), First Majestic Silver Corp. (FR.TO), Pan American Silver Corp. (PAAS.TO), New Gold (NGD.TO) and First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Lundin Mining (LUN.TO), Iamgold Corp. (IMG.TO), Methanex (MX.TO) and Detour Gold Corp. (DGC.TO) ended lower by 2 to 6%.

Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) declined nearly 5.5% after the company reported adjusted profit attributable to shareholders of $459 million ($0.81 per share) for the second quarter, compared with $653 million ($1.14 per share) a year ago.

Cannabis share Hexo Corp. (HEXO.TO) declined 4.4%. CannTrust Holdings (TRST.TO) ended 3.7%, extending recent losses.

Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC.TO) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) ended weak.

On the economic front, data released by Statistics Canada showed average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were up 1.1% at $1,031 in May, compared to previous month.

U.S. stocks moved mostly lower on Thursday amid renewed uncertainty about the near-term outlook for monetary policy in the U.S. and Europe. The ECB came out with its policy statement today, while the Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet next Tuesday-Wednesday.

Data from the Commerce Department that showed a substantial rebound in U.S. durable goods orders dented optimism about a near-term rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

The Dow slid 0.5%, the Nasdaq declined 1% and the S&P 500 closed lower by 0.5%.

The major European markets turned weak on Thursday. Germany's DAX declined 1.3% and the French CAC 40 ended 0.5%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 eased 0.2%. The ECB has signaled that it is likely to cut rates to address persistently low inflation rather than an economic downturn.

Markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up $0.14, or about 0.3%, at $56.02 a barrel.

Gold futures for August ended down $8.90, or about 0.6%, at $1,414.70 an ounce.

Silver futures for September ended down $0.215, at $16.411 an ounce, while Copper futures for September settled at $2.7035 per pound, losing $0.0085.