TSX Ends Sharply Lower On Trade War Concerns, Falling Oil Prices

(RTTNews) - Hurt by a sharp fall in crude oil prices and rising concerns about global economy due to the ongoing U.S.-China trade conflict, the Canadian stock market suffered its worst setback of the year on Thursday.

The hike in tariffs on Chinese goods and the collapse of U.S.-China trade talks last week continued to weigh on the market.

Meanwhile during a weekly briefing, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said the Trump administration must "show sincerity and correct their wrong actions" if the U.S. wants trade talks to continue.

"Negotiations can only continue on the basis of equality and mutual respect," Gao said, noting that China is closely monitoring developments and preparing a necessary response.

Energy, mining, financial and healthcare stocks were among the most prominent losers. Shares from consumer discretionary section too lost ground.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 162.74 points, or 1%, at 16,164.61, recovering from the day's low of 16,105.53.

In the energy space, Encana Corporation (ECA.TO) plunged 7.2%, Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TOU.TO) ended nearly 6% down.

Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Husky Energy (HSE.TO), PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO) and Parex Resources (PXT.TO) lost 2.5% to 4.5%.

Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) ended more than 8% down, MEG Energy Corp. (MEG.TO) plunged nearly 10%, Baytex Energy (BTE.TO) declined 6.5%, ARC Resources (ARX.TO) ended lower by 2.6% and Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) settled with a loss of about 4.1%.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) declined 2.4%. The bank reported a net income of C$3.23 billion or C$2.20 per share for the second quarter, up 6% and 7%, respectively over a year-ago. Total revenue for the quarter grew to C$11.50 billion from C$10.05 billion in the same quarter last year.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) gained about 2.2%. The bank reported adjusted net income of $3,266 million for the quarter ended April 2019, compared with $3,062 million in the year-ago quarter.

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) were down 1.1% and 2.1%, respectively. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) declined 3.1% and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) ended 0.8% down.

Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC.TO) shed 2.1%, Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO) ended nearly 1% down and Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) declined 1.2%.d

Among the stocks in the healthcare index, cannbis shares were the most hit. Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO), Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO), Cronos Group Inc. (CRON.TO), Aphria Inc. (APHA.TO), Cronos Group (CRON.TO) and CannTrust Holdings (TRST.TO) lost 2.7 to 5%.

Shares of Maxar Technologies (MAXR.TO) soared more than 28% after the company announced it has been selected by NASA to build and perform a spaceflight demonstration of the lunar Gateway's power and propulsion element spacecraft.

In economic news, data released by Statistics Canada showed that wholesale trade rose for the fourth consecutive month, increasing by 1.4% to $64.1 billion in March.

The jump was due to higher sales in six sub-sectors, which accounted for 82% of total wholesale sales.

U.S. stocks ended with sharp losses, hurt by trade concerns. The Dow ended 1.1% down, the Nasdaq declined 1.6% and the S&P 500 settled with a loss of 1.2%.

European and Asian markets too ended notably lower on Thursday.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June ended down $3.51, or 5.7%, at $57.91 a barrel, the lowest settlement since March 12.

Gold futures for June ended up $11.20, or 0.9%, at $1,285.40 an ounce.

Silver futures for July ended up $0.164, at $14.613 an ounce, while Copper futures for July settled at $2.6805 per pound, up $0.0025 from previous close.