TSX Settles Moderately Lower

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended weak on Monday, albeit well off the day's lows, amid cautious moves by investors due to lingering concerns over the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Also, traders appeared keen on cutting down some long positions ahead of the reporting season that starts this week with top U.S. banks and financial firms scheduled to announce their quarterly results.

Sluggish crude oil prices weighed as well. Financial, healthcare, consumer discretionary and industrial stocks were among the prominent losers. Materials shares rallied after gold prices saw yet another strong outing. Information technology shares were the other notable gainers.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which tumbled to 13,889.25 by mid-morning, rallied to close at 14,075.94, limiting its loss to 90.69 points, or 0.64%.

On Thursday, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 240.92 points or 1.73%, at 14,166.63. The market remained closed on Friday for Good Friday.

Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) declined more than 13%. MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Air Canada (AC.TO), Nutrien (NTR.TO), Husky Energy (HSE.TO), Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO), Pembina Pipeline Corporation (PPL.TO) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) lost 3 to 4.7%.

MTY Food Group (MTY.TO) plunged 8.5%. Waste Connections (WCN.TO), Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) also ended sharply lower.

Among the prominent gainers, B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Kinross Gold (K.TO) and Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) moved up 10 to 10.5%. Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) surged up 7.3%, while Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), Kirkland Lake Gold (KL.TO), Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO) and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) gained 3 to 6.2%.

Information technology shares Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO), Lightspeed Pos (LSPD.TO) and Absolute Software Corp (ABF.TO) gained 6.1%, 5.5% and 4.5%, respectively. Celestica Inc. (CLS.TO), Sierra Wireless (SW.TO), Photon Control (PHO.TO), Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) and Blackberry (BB.TO) ended higher by 2 to 4%, while Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) and Quarterhill Inc. (QTRH.TO) gained 1.5% and 1.2%, respectively.

The Bank of Canada is scheduled to announce its rate decision on Wednesday. Data on manufacturing sales for the month of February, and ADP report on employment change in the month of March are due out on Thursday and Friday, respectively.