Canadian Market Ends Decent Month With A Whimper -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks tumbled Friday, led by another brutal performance from drug maker Valeant.

Mining stocks rebounded, but health care and banking shares showed notable weakness.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 262.71 points, or 1.9 percent, to 13,529.17. Still, the index was up about 2 percent for the month.

Valeant said that it is severing all ties with Philidor Rx Services, LLC, and that Philidor has informed Valeant that it will shut down operations as soon as possible. The stock plunged 17.5 percent.

Valeant shares have plummeted this month amid allegations that fake Philidor accounts were being used to pump up Valeant's revenues.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) fell 2.1 percent. The company announced the launch of an online foreign currency exchange service

Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) lost 1.2 percent. The company reported a 49 percent decline in profit for the third quarter from last year due to lower crude oil prices. However, results for the quarter beat analysts' estimates.

Husky Energy (HSE.TO) plunged 12.9 percent, after it swung to a quarterly loss due to a $3.8-billion ($2.9-billion) after-tax impairment charge.

Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) lost 5.3 percent. The company reported its adjusted net loss for the quarter was $4.0 million ($0.01 loss per share) compared to a $36.1 million profit ($0.05 per share) last year.

Canadian Tire (CTC-A.TO) slipped 1.4 percent. The company is voluntarily recalling all units of the Sparco No-Back Booster (Product #199-5955) due to the fabric not meeting the flammability requirements of the Motor Vehicle Restraint Systems and Booster Seat Safety Regulations.

In ecnomic news, the Canadian economy continued to grow in August, albeit slower than earlier in the summer. Gross domestic product increased 0.1 percent to an annualized $1.66-trillion, Statistics Canada said, after gains of 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent in June and July. The reading matched economists' forecast.