TSX Settles Lower On Geopolitical Concerns

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market recovered after a weak start and briefly emerged into positive territory around early afternoon, but faltered and ended on a negative note on Friday as an escalation in geopolitical tensions dented investor sentiment.

Geopolitical tensions escalated after a U.S. airstrike killed Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani.

While the U.S. has stated that it killed General Soleimani for the recent attacks on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iran has reportedly said there would be "revenge" for Soleimani's death.

Despite a sharp rise in gold prices, materials shares retreated. Higher crude oil prices triggered some buying in the energy space, but stocks largely failed to sustain at higher levels.

Shares from healthcare, consumer discretionary, information technology and industrial sections were weak. Real estate stocks moved higher, while utilities, consumer staples and financial shares ended mixed.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 33.83 points, or 0.2%, at 17,066.12, after scaling a low of 17,033.21 and a high of 17,105.66 intraday.

Semafo (SMF.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO), Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO), Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) and Manulife Financial Corp (MFC.TO) lost 0.8 to 2% on strong volumes.

MEG Energy (MEG.TO) ended stronger by about 4.2% on huge volumes. Baytex Energy (BTE.TO) gained about 3.75%, ARC Resources (ARX.TO) and Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) also attracted strong buying and ended highe rby 2 to 3.7%.

Air Canada (AC.TO), West Fraser Timber (WFT.TO) and Norbord Inc. (OSB.TO) declined 3 to 3.4%. Magna International (MG.TO) and Kinaxis (KXS.TO) also declined sharply.

Maxar Technologies (MAXR.TO) and Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.TO) gained 5.8% and 2.8%, respectively.

U.S. stocks pulled back from historic highs due to an escalation in geopolitical tensions and data showing a contraction in the country's manufacturing activity in the month of December.

The Dow and the Nasdaq, both ended lower by 0.8%, while the S&P 500 declined 0.7%.

In Europe, the major markets ended mixed, while most of the markets across the region closed weak. Markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended up $1.87, or about 3.1%, at $63.05 a barrel, the highest settlement since May 20.

Gold futures for February ended up $24.30, or about 1.6%, at $1,552.40 an ounce, the best settlement since early September.

Silver futures for March ended up $0.105 at $18.151 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $2.7870 per pound, down $0.0380 from previous close.