TSX Ends Lower On Weak Global Cues, Falling Commodity Prices

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended lower on Friday, led by losses in energy and materials stocks as commodity prices tumbled once again.

Shares from healthcare, information technology, financial and consumer discretionary sections also declined as the mood remained quite bearish in the market due to weak global cues after the U.S. Federal Reserve said on Thursday that it would continue to gradually raise interest rates.

Crude oil prices tumbled for a tenth straight session on rising output and demand growth concerns, triggering some heavy selling in the energy sector. Materials stocks declined on weak bullion prices.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down by 83.03 points, or 0.54%, at 15,274.44, after scaling a low of 15,196.10 and a high of 15,304.04 in the session.

On Thursday, the index ended down 11.96 points, or 0.08%, at 15,357.47, snapping a three-day winning streak.

The Capped Energy Index shed 1.67%. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Husky Energy Inc. (HSE.TO), Vermilion Energy Inc. (VET.TO) and PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO) lost 1.3 to 3%.

ARC Resources Ltd. (ARX.TO) plunged 12%, after the company reported third quarter loss of $34.5 million. Encana (ECA.TO) rebounded after a weak start to finish more than 2% up. Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TOU.TO) gained 1.25%

Gold stocks declined on falling bullion prices. Kinross Gold (K.TO), IAMGOLD (IMG.TO), Barrick Gold (ABX.TO), Goldcorp (G.TO), Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) and B2Gold (BTO.TO), all ended with sharp losses.

The Capped Materials Index ended 1.55% down. Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) ended nearly 1% down, Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) declined by 3.4% and First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) ended 7.6% down.

The Capped Consumer Discretionary Index shed 1.8%. Magna International Inc. (MG.TO) ended 4.5% down, Dollarama Inc. (DOL.TO) declined by 1.5%, Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO) eased by 2%, The Stars Group Inc. (TSGI.TO) dropped by about 4.7%, Linamar Corporation (LNR.TO) ended lower by about 3%, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation (GC.TO) declined by 1.8% and BRP Inc. (BRP.TO) ended nearly 2% down.

The Capped Information Technology Index ended 2.6% down. BlackBerry (BB.TO) declined by about 2.5%, Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO) drifted down by 5.4%, Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO) ended 16.4% down on lower earnings and Celestica Inc. (CLS.TO) shed about 3%. Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) is sinking 18.65 percent.

Enghouse Systems Limited (ENGH.TO) announced that it has acquired Capana Sweden AB, a software company specialized in wholesale, interconnect, roaming, broadband billing, internet of things and partner settlements. The stock ended l0wer by about 1%.

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) lost 0.3 to 1%.

The Capped Healthcare Index ended 3.2% down. Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB.TO) closed 5.8% down and Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) ended lower by 8%. Knight Therapeutics (GUD.TO) and Extendicare (EXE.TO) posted notable gains.

TransCanada (TRP.TO) shares declined by 1.7% following the $10-billion Keystone XL pipeline project suffering a setback after a U.S. federal judge blocked its construction to allow more time to study the potential environmental impact.

MAV Beauty Brands Inc. (MAV.TO) gained 3.5% despite weak results. The company reported net loss of $5.8 million for the third quarter of current financial year, as compared to net profit of $0.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

Boralex Inc. (BLX.TO) ended 4.8% despite the company reporting a 9% increase in third quarter EBITDA.

Enerplus Corporation (ERF.TO) gained about 3.5% after it reported third quarter net income of $86.9 million or $0.35 per share, an increase of $74.5 million from the previous quarter.

U.S. stocks ended notably lower on renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates on the heels of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Thursday.

Adding to the concerns about interest rates, the Labor Department released a report showing a much bigger than expected increase in producer prices in the month of October.

The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand climbed by 0.6% in October after rising by 0.2% in September. Economists had been expecting another 0.2%.

A report from the University of Michigan said the consumer sentiment index edged down to 98.3 in November from the final October reading of 98.6. Economists had expected the index to dip to 98.0.

Markets in Asia and Europe too ended lower on Friday, reacting to Federal Reserve's statement about future rate hikes.

In commodities, crude oil futures dropped to the lowest level in eight months. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December declined to 59.27, before settling to close at $60.19 a barrel, netting a loss of $0.48, or 0.8%, for the session.

Gold futures for December ended down $16.50, or about 1.4%, at $1,208.60 an ounce, the lowest settlement price in about a month.

Silver futures for December ended down $0.283, at $14.140 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $2.6845 per pound, losing $0.0515 for the session.