TSX Ends Sharply Lower As Stocks Tumble In The Final Hour Sell-off

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended notably lower on Tuesday as concerns about a potential second wave of coronavirus infections amid reopening of businesses prompted investors to lighten commitments.

The market opened on a mixed note and gained in modest strength early on, but fell sharply in late afternoon trades after U.S. infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci warned of "suffering and death" if U.S. reopens prematurely.

Testifying before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Dr Fauci said, "There is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you may not be able to control and, in fact paradoxically, will set you back, not only leading to some suffering and death that could be avoided, but could even set you back on the road to try to get economic recovery."

Energy stocks managed to find some support thanks to a sharp jump in crude oil prices. But stocks from all the other sectors reeled under pressure.

Real estate, utilities, consumer discretionary and financial shares were among the most prominent losers. Healthcare, industrial and information technology stocks too ended mostly weak.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 222.06 points, or 1.47%, at 14,881.16, the day's low. The index rose to 15,184.87 in early trades.

The Capped Real Estate Index lost more than 3.3%. Dream Office REIT and Dream Industrial REIT shed 6% and 5.6%, respectively. Boardwalk Real Estate and Allied Properties Real Estate ended lower by 5.3% and 5%, respectively.

In the utilities section, Atco (ACO.X.TO) and Canadian Utilities (CU.TO) lost 4.2% and 3.9%, respectively. Brookefield Infra Partners (BIP.UN.TO) shed 3.1%, while Emera Inc (EMA.TO) and Fortis Inc. (FTS.TO) lost 2.5% and 2.2%, respectively.

Among consumer discretionary shares, Brp Inc. (DOO.TO) lost 6% and Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO) declined 4.5%. Aritzia (ATZ.TO), Mty Food Group (MTY.TO), Martinrea International (MRE.TO) and Magna International (MG.TO) ended lower by 3 to 4%.

In the financial space, Fairfax Financial Holding (FFH.TO), Laurentian Bank, (LB.TO), Onex Corp (ONEX.TO), CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) shed 2 to 2.5%. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) also declined sharply.

In the technology section, Lightspeed Pos (LSPD.TO) shed more than 8%. Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO), CGI Group (GIB.A.TO), Open Text (OTEX.TO) and Blackberry (BB.TO) ended lower by 1.4 to 4%.

Energy stocks Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO), ARC Resources (ARX.TO) and Shawcor (SCL.TO) declined sharply.

Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) and Seven Generations Energy (VII.TO) gained 1 to 5.2%.