TSX Drifts Lower As Turkey's Financial Turmoil Derails Global Markets

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended lower on Friday, tracking losses in global markets amid rising concerns about outlook for the global economy due to ongoing U.S.-China trade war and U.S.'s sanctions against Turkey, Iran and Russia.

Data from Statistics Canada that showed stronger than expected job growth in July failed to lift sentiment, which was quite bearish due to worries about trade war and the turmoil in Turkey's banking sector. Turkey's currency lira crashed over 16% to a record low against the greenback.

Russia's rouble fell to its lowest level since late 2016, while the euro and the pound declined to their lowest levels in a year. Crude oil's uptick triggered some buying in the energy space. Consumer staples, healthcare, utilities and financials stocks were under pressure. Gold stocks ended on a mixed note.

Data from Statistics Canada showed an increase of 54,100 jobs in July, following an addition of 31,800 jobs in June.

Economists were expecting a job growth of 17,000. The unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage points to 5.8% from 6%. The rate was forecast to fall to 5.9%.

The benchmark S&P/TSX ended down 90.47 points or 0.55%, at 16,326,51, after scaling a low of 16,281.75 and a high of 16,362.52 intraday. On Thursday, the index ended up 101.90 points or 0.62% at 16,416.98,

The Capped Financials Index ended down 0.59%. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) shed 0.4 to 1%, while Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce (CM.TO) edged down marginally.

The Capped Consumer Staples Index declined by 1.44%. Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ATD.B.TO), Loblaw Companies (L.TO), Metro Inc. (MRU.TO), Saputo Inc. (SAP.TO), George Weston (WN.TO), Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (PBH.TO), Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (MFI.TO) and The North West Company Inc. (NWC.TO) lost 1 to 2%.

The Capped Materials Index ended down 0.71%. CCL Industries Inc. (CCL.B.TO) shed 4.5%. The company reported adjusted basic earnings of $0.70 for second quarter, up 2.9% over year-ago quarter.

Nutrien (NTR.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) and First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) ended lower by 1.7 to 2.6%.

Goldcorp (G.TO) and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) ended modestly higher. Yamana Gold and B2 Gold retreated after sharp upmove and ended slightly weak. IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) declined by 1.2%.

The Capped Healthcare Index declined more than 2%. Bausch Health Companies Inc. (BHC.TO) ended 5.3% down, Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB.TO) declined 2.5% and Aphria Inc. (APH.TO) ended lower by 1.8%.

Extendicare (EXE.TO) gained 4.1%. The company reported an 11.3% increase in net operating income in the second quarter, compared to year-ago quarter.

Cipher Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CPH.TO) declined by about 2.2% after reporting total revenue was $7.0 million for second quarter of current financial year, compared to $9.9 million in the year-ago quarter.

Brookfield Real Estate Services Inc. (TSX: BRE) plunged more than 12% after posting a net loss of $3.7 million, or $0.39 per share for the three months ended June 30, 2018, compared to net earnings of $3.3 million or $0.35 per Share, in the year-ago quarter.

Boralex Inc. (BLX.TO) reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of $28 million or $0.36 per share for the second quarter of 2018, compared with a net loss of $2 million or $0.03 per share for the same period a year earlier.

The company said that the increase in net loss between the two periods was primarily due to lower than expected production volume at existing facilities, $7 million in extraordinary acquisition costs and $12 million in impairment losses. The stock lost about 3.1%.

Cineplex Inc. (CGX.TO) reported net income of $24.4 million for the second quarter, as compared to $1.4 million in the year-ago quarter. The stock ended nearly 4% down.

The U.S. market ended notably lower amid concerns about rising tensions between the U.S. and Turkey due to the Turkish detention of U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson.

The Dow slid 196.09 points or 0.8%, the Nasdaq declined 52.67 points or 0.7% and the S&P 500 dropped 20.30 points or 0.7%.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest increase in consumer prices in the month of July.

The Labor Department said its consumer price index rose by 0.2 percent in July after inching up by 0.1 percent in June. The increase in prices matched economist estimates.

Asian markets ended lower due to trade war concerns. European markets are down as well, with trade war worries, U.S. sanctions on Russia and the U.S.-Turkey rift hurting sentiment.

In economic news from Europe, U.K. economic growth doubled in the second quarter driven by stronger growth in both services and construction sectors, according to a report from the Office for National Statistics.

Gross domestic product rose 0.4%, matching expectations and faster than the 0.2% expansion seen in the first quarter.

U.K. industrial output also expanded in June, climbing 0.4% month-on-month, after falling for three straight months, and reversing a 0.2% in May.

Meanwhile, France's industrial and manufacturing output rebounded in June, driven by a recovery in petroleum output.

In commodities, Crude oil futures for September delivery ended up $0.82, or 1.3%, at $67.63 a barrel, after International Energy Agency forecast that world oil demand will increase by 110,000 barrels a day to 1.5 million barrels next year.

Natural Gas futures edged down by $0.005, or 0.17%, to $2.950 per million btu.

Gold futures for December ended down $0.90, or about 0.9%, at $1,219.00 an ounce. With today's fall, the yellow metal has recorded its fifth successive weekly decline.

Silver futures for September were down $0.072, or 0.47%, at $15.390 an ounce and Copper futures were lower by $0.021, or 0.74%, at $2.745 per pound.