Canadian Stocks Climb Off Early Lows But Remain In The Red

(RTTNews) - After coming under pressure early in the session, Canadian stocks regained ground to end Monday's trading little changed.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index fell as low as 19,704.96 before ending the day down 37.17 points or 0.2 percent at 19,836.12.

Concerns about the outlook for U.S. interest rates weigh on the markets in early trading following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium.

Powell's remarks were more hawkish than investors would have liked, signaling the Fed is likely to continue raising interest rates aggressively and maintain rates at a high level for an extended period.

The subsequent weakness in the markets reflects concerns the Fed's battle against inflation will led to a continued slowdown by the economy.

However, an advance by energy stocks helped to limit the downside on Bay Street amid a sharp increase by the price of crude oil.