TSX Falters After Firm Start, Ends Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market faltered after a firm start on Monday and kept sliding as the session progressed to finally end on a very weak note, led by losses in energy, materials and financial sections.

Several stocks from healthcare, telecom and industrial sectors too closed notably lower, while information technology and consumer discretionary stocks moved up.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which opened with a positive gap of nearly 70 points at 17,617.26, ended the day with a loss of 161.52 points or 0.92% at 17387.40, a few points off the day's low.

The Capped Energy Index shed 1.16%. Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Seven Generations Energy (VII.TO) and Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) ended lower by 2 to 3%. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Parex Resources (PXT.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO), PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) and Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) also declined sharply.

Materials shares Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO), MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), Kirkland Lake Gold (KL.TO), Kinross Gold (K.TO), Yamana Gold (YRI.TO), Ssr Mining (SSRM.TO), Methanex (MX.TO) and Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) lost 3 to 6%.

Among financials, Manulife Financial (MFC.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) ended notably lower.

In the healthcare section, Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) ended 4.5% down, Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) slid 3.2% and Trillium Therapeutics (TRIL.TO) ended lower by 2.4%, while Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (AUP.TO) moved up 3.7%.

Technology stocks Docebo Inc. (DCBO.TO) and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) gained 3.6% and 2.85%, respectively. Absolute Software (ABST.TO) gained 1.9% and BlackBerry (BB.TO) gained about 1.15%.

Among consumer discretionary shares, Sleep Country Canada Holdings (GOOS.TO) gained 2%, while Magna International (MG.TO) and Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) both ended higher by about 1.3%.

According to reports, the United States has begun giving Covid-19 vaccine shots and vaccinations were rolling out across the country starting Monday, with hospitals prioritizing front-line healthcare workers.

This follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's nod for Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine.

CDC Director Robert Redfield accepted the recommendation by CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in people 16 years of age and older.

Last week, Canada became the third country to authorize use of the Covid-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech.