Canadian Market Ends On Weak Note; Energy Stocks Move Higher
(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended weak on Thursday, weighed down by losses in real estate, materials and utilities sectors. However, the downside was just marginal thanks to strong and sustained buying at several counters in the energy sector.
Data showing a contraction in Canada's services sector for the third consecutive month, and conerns about rising tensions in the Middle East hurt sentiment.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 33.05 points or 0.14% at 23,968.50, after scaling a low of 23,823.96 and a high of 23,982.24 intraday.
Data from S&P Global said the Canada Composite PMI dropped to 47.0 in September, from 47.8 in August, marking a deeper contraction in private sector activity for the fourth consecutive month. The S&P Global Canada Services PMI fell to 46.4 in September, down from 47.8 in August, and marking the fourth consecutive month of decline.
Molson Coors (TPX.B.TO), Colliers International (CIGI.TO), Cogeco Communications (CCA.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.A.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO) and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) ended down 1.4 to 2.5%.
Methanex Corporation (MX.TO), Stantec (STN.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO), Atkins Realis Group (ATRL.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) and Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO) gained 2.5 to 4%.
Goeasy (GSY.TO), Onex Corporation (ONEX.TO), CGI Inc (DIB.A.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO) nd Waste Connections (WCN.TO) also ended notably higher.