Canadian Market Closes Weak For 3rd Straight Day

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended on a weak note on Thursday, extending losses to a third straight session, as concerns about the outlook for growth weighed on sentiment.

Consumer discretionary, energy, technology and industrials shares were among the major losers in the session. Communications and consumer staples stocks found good support.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 52.48 points or 0.23% at 22,988.28. The index advanced to a high of 23,173.82 earlier in the session.

BRP Inc (DOO.TO) ended lower by about 4%. Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO), TFI International (TFII.TO), Magna International (MG.TO) and Dollarama Inc (DOL.TO) closed down 2.3 to 3.5%.

Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), goeasy (GSY.TO), Cargojet (CJT.TO) and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) lost 1 to 2%.

Perpetua Resources Corp (PPTA.TO) soared 11.5%. Primo Water Corporation (PRMW.TO) surged nearly 9%. North West Company (NWC.TO) rallied 7.2%.

Endeavour Mining (EDV.TO) gained nearly 4%. CCL Industries (CCL.TO) ended 2.3% up. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), Morguard Corporation (MRC.TO), West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.TO) and Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO) advanced 1 to 2.3%.

Data from Statistics Canada said labour productivity of Canadian businesses edged down 0.2% in the second quarter, after a 0.3% decline in the previous quarter.

The S&P Global Canada Composite PMI edged up to 47.8 in August 2024 from 47.0 in July, but remained in contraction in private sector activity for the third consecutive month.

Meanwhile, the S&P Global Canada Services PMI rose slightly to 47.8 in August 2024, up from 47.3 in July, signaling a slower but still pronounced contraction in the services sector, marking the third consecutive month of decline.

Payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector employment in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in the month of August.

ADP said private sector employment rose by 99,000 jobs in August after climbing by a downwardly revised 111,000 jobs in July.