TSX Snaps 3-day Winning Streak, Ends Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended weak on Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak, as investors chose to take some profits. Energy, healthcare and industrial shares were the major losers.

Weak commodity prices and worries about outlook for growth due to rising coronavirus cases and imposition of lockdown measures in several places outweighed optimism about additional stimulus from the Joe Biden administration.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 98.71 points or 0.55% at 17,916.20, after scaling a low of 17,870.25 and a high of 18,018.30 intraday.

Energy stocks Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO) and PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO) lost 3 to 4.2%.

In the healthcare section, Trillium Therapeutics (TRIL.TO) and Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) declined 3.7% and 3.6%, respectively. Aphria Inc. (APHA.TO) ended 2.8% down and Cronos Group (CRON.TO) lost nearly 2%, while Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) ended 1.25% down.

Among industrials shares, Cae Inc. (CAE.TO) shed 4.1%, Air Canada (AC.TO) ended lower by 3.75%, and Ats Automation (ATA.TO), Gfi Environmental (GFL.TO) and Brookfield Business Partners (BBU.UN.TO) lost 2 to 3%.

Materials shares Fortuna Silver Mines (FVI.TO), Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS.TO), Silvercorp Metals (SVM.TO), MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO) and Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO) declined sharply.

TC Energy Corporation (TRP.TO), West Fraser Timber (WFT.TO), Cogeco Inc. (CGO.TO), Cogeco Communications (CCA.TO) and Magna International (MG.TO) were among the prominent gainers in the session.

On the economic front, data from Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) showed private businesses in Canada shed 28,800 jobs in December of 2020, after cutting 219,800 positions in November. It was the tenth consecutive month of job shedding amid the pandemic crisis.

Data from Statistics Canada said prices of new homes in Canada rose by 0.3% from the previous month in December 2020, following a 0.6% increase in the previous month. Year-on-year, new house prices advanced 4.6% in December, the same pace as in November.