TSX Ends Flat After Volatile Session

(RTTNews) - After swinging between gains and losses right through the session on Friday, the Canadian stock market ended flat for a third successive day.

The market shrugged off a weak start and emerged into positive territory, riding on gains in energy shares after crude oil prices moved up sharply. However, as crude prices retreated and the mood turned cautious again due to worries about Brexit, Italy's budget and global economic slowdown, the market faltered, and failed to make significant progress despite coming off lower levels.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 10.62 points, or 0.07%, at 15,155.50, after scaling a low of 15,082.92 and a high of 15,170.29 in the session. For the week, the index shed nearly 0.8%.

In Canadian economic news, a report from Statistics Canada showed that foreign investment in Canadian securities totaled $7.7 billion in September, with a large part of the investment coming through acquisitions of money market instruments. Canadian investment in foreign securities resumed to reach $10.6 billion, led by purchases of non-U.S. instruments, the report said.

Another report from Statistics Canada said manufacturing sales edged up 0.2% in September to $58.5 billion, after a 0.5% decrease in the preceding month. Sales increased in eight of 21 industries, led by higher sales in the transportation equipment industry, the report said.

In stocks, healthcare shares declined sharply. Materials stocks moved up on higher gold prices. Consumer discretionary, telecommunications and information technology stocks gained, while energy, industrials and consumer staples stocks ended mixed. Bank stocks posted modest losses.

The Capped Materials Index gained nearly 1%. Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO) ended nearly 2% up, Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) gained 1.85%, Goldcorp Inc (G.TO) advanced by 2.3%, Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (WPM.TO) jumped 4.7%, Methanex Corporation (MX.TO) added 1.2% and CCL Industries Inc. (CCL.B.TO) gained about 1%.

Among energy stocks, Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Encana Corporation (ECA.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) and Husky Energy (HSE.TO) lost 1 to 2.5%.

Information technology stocks CGI Group (GIB.A.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO) and Celestica Inc. (CLS.TO) ended higher by 1.5 to 2.1%.

BlackBerry Limited (BB.TO) announced a definitive agreement to wholly acquire Cylance, an artificial intelligence and cybersecurity provider, for $1.4 billion in cash, plus the assumption of unvested employee incentive awards. The stock ended nearly 1.5% up.

Among bank stocks, Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) lost 0.3 to 0.6%, while Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) ended marginally down.

Uni-Select Inc. (UNS.TO) gained about 2% after the company announced today that one of its subsidiaries has completed the acquisition of all the outstanding shares of Autochoice Parts & Paints Limited.

Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) ended more than 20% down after Quebec's securities regulator asked the company to halt executive share sales plan after revealing an ongoing probe into stock transactions by company executives.

U.S. stocks ended mixed after a lackluster session as traders were reluctant to make significant moves amid uncertainty about the global economic outlook and anxiety about Brexit. While the Dow climbed 0.5% and the S&P 500 edged up by 0.2%, the Nasdaq eased by 0.2%.

In economic news from U.S., industrial production inched up by 0.1% in October, after rising by a downwardly revised 0.2% in September. Economists had expected industrial production to rise by 0.2% compared to the 0.3% increase originally reported for the previous month.

European and Asian markets ended on a mixed note on Friday as traders continued to stay cautious amid Brexit uncertainty and Italian budget woes.

In commodities, Crude oil futures for December ended at $56.46 a barrel, unchanged from previous close, after rising quite sharply early on in the session.

Gold futures for December ended up $8.00, or 0.7%, at $1,223.00 an ounce.

Silver futures for December were up by about 3%, at $4.370 an ounce, while Copper futures for December were up 1.5%, at 2.788 per pound.