TSX Ends Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market failed to hold early gains and ended just marginally up on Wednesday as investors turned a bit cautious at higher levels amid worries about the impact of coronavirus outbreak on the global economy.

Some positive earnings announcements from U.S. companies aided sentiment, but investors largely refrained from making significant moves.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 10.87 points, or 0.06%, at 17,511.75, after scaling a low of 17,496.73 and a high of 17,561.87.

Information technologies declined sharply. Healthcare and telecommunications shares were also weak. Materials shares moved higher, while shares from rest of the sectors turned in a mixed performance.

In the materials space, Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO), Alamos Gold (AGI.TO), Kinross Gold (K.TO), MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), Silvercorp Metals (SVM.TO), Ssr Mining (SSRM.TO), Novagold (NG.TO), Yamana Gold (YRI.TO), Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS.TO) and Osisko Gold (OR.TO) gained 2.7 to 5.3%.

Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO) and Kirkland Lake Gold (KL.TO) also rose sharply.

Information technology stock CGI Group Inc (GIB.A.TO) declined nearly 8% after the company said its first-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as it was hit by one-time restructuring costs and integration expenses. The company said it earned $290.2 million or $1.06 per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to $311.5 million or $1.11 per diluted share in the same period a year earlier.

Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Lightspeed Pos (LSPD.TO), Stantec (STN.TO) and Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO) closed with strong gains.

Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO), Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO), Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO), West Fraser Timber (WFT.TO), Rogers Communications (RCI.A.TO) and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) declined sharply.

U.S. stocks ended little changed despite moving up earlier in the session. The Dow and the S&P 500 edged down marginally, while the Nasdaq closed slightly higher.

The Federal Reserve decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 1.5 to 1.75%, keeping rates unchanged for the second straight meeting after three straight quarter-point rate cuts.

Stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region and Europe moved mostly higher.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for March ended down $0.15, or about 0.3%, at $53.33 a barrel.

Gold futures for February ended up $0.60, or 0.04%, at $1,570.40 an ounce.

Silver futures for March ended up $0.029 at $17.487 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $2.5540 per pound, down $0.0255 from previous close.