TSX Settles Notably Lower Despite Paring Some Losses

(RTTNews) - After a weak start and a subsequent sharp plunge, Canadian stocks staged a recovery of sorts post early afternoon, but still ended Wednesday's session notably lower.

Rising fears of a recession after recent data showed a contraction in the U.S. manufacturing activity in September hurt global stocks and those in the Canadian market were no exception.

Data from payroll processor ADP that showed a less than expected improvement in U.S. private sector job growth in September further dented investor sentiment.

With several stocks from energy, financial and industrials sectors posting sharp losses, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 136.69 points, or 0.83%, at 16,310.97, after having plunged to a low of 16,223.59 earlier in the day.

Among the shares in the Energy Index, Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO) declined more than 6.5%, Precision Drilling (PD.TO) shed nearly 6%, Seven Generations Energy (VII.TO) closed lower by 4.75%.

Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), ARC Resources (ARX.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Encana Corp (ECA.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Husky Energy (HSE.TO) and PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO) lost 2 to 4%. Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) and Parex Resources (PXT.TO) also declined sharply.

In the financial space, Manulife Financial (MFC.TO), Onex Corp (ONEX.TO) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) declined 3.4%, 3% and 2.4%, respectively. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) lost 1 to 1.4%.

Among industrials, Cae Inc. (CAE.TO), Russel Metals (RUS.TO), Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO), Mullen Group (MTL.TO), Snc-Lavalin Inc. (SNC.TO), Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) ended lower by 1.4 to 3%.

In the information technology space, Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO), Exfo Inc. (EXF.TO), Photon Control (PHO.TO), Blackberry (BB.TO) and Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO) ended lower by 1.2 to 3.3%.

Gold stocks Alacer Gold (ASR.TO), Kirkland Lake Gold (KL.TO), Novagold (NG.TO), Detour Gold Corp (DGC.TO), Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO), Kinross Gold (K.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO), Franco-Nevada Corp (FNV.TO), Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO) and Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) ended lower by 1.7 to 5.4%.

In the healthcare space, Aphria Inc. (APHA.TO), Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) and Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) gained 1.7 to 2.4%. Extendicare (EXE.TO) gained about 1.1%. On the other hand, CannTrust Holdings (TRST.TO), Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) and Hexo Corp (HEXO.TO) ended notably lower.

U.S. stocks ended sharply lower, extending losses from previous session. Disappointing jobs data from payroll processor ADP and the Institute for Supply Management (ISM)'s data showing a contraction in U.S. manufacturing activity triggered the sell-off.

The Dow declined 1.9%, the Nasdaq slumped 1.6% and the S&P 500 tumbled 1.8%.

Stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower. Most of the markets across Europe ended with sharp losses.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $0.98, or about 1.8%, at $52.64 a barrel.

Gold futures for December ended up $18.90, or about 1.3%, at $1,507.90 an ounce.

Silver futures for December ended up $0.381, at $17.683 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled up $0.0100, at $2.5705 per pound.