TSX Ends Notably Lower, But Records Gains For Fifth Successive Month

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended lower on Monday as a lack of positive triggers, and lower crude oil prices rendered the mood cautious and prompted investors to do some profit taking at several counters.

Worries about continued surge in coronavirus cases, U.S.-China tensions and uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery weighed as well.

Energy, consumer discretionary, industrials and financial stocks were among the most prominent losers in the session. Consumer staples, telecom and real estate stocks fell as well. Healthcare and utilities stocks were also mostly weak, while materials and information technology shares found modest support.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which spent the entire session in the red, ended with a loss of 191.35 points or 1.15% at 16,514.44, not far off from the day's low of 16,498.08.

The index gained about 2.1% in August, extending gains to a fifth straight month.

The Capped Energy Index fell as much as 3.03%. The Consumer Discretionary index slid 2.87%, while Consumer Staples and Financial indices lost 1.57% and 1.54%, respectively. The Capped Industrials Index shed 1.32%.

Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Manulife Financial (MFC.TO), Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) and Air Canada (AC.TO) declined 2 to 4%.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO), Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO), Magna International (MG.TO) and BRP Inc. (DOO.TO) were some of the other major losers.

Novagold Resources (NG.TO) surged up nearly 8%. Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO), Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.TO), Yamana Gold Corp (YRI.TO) and Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) also closed on positive note.

On the economic front, the industrial product price index in Canada increased 0.7% over a month earlier in July 2020, after rising 0.4% a month in June. Meanwhile, the raw materials price index increased 3% month-over-month in July 2020.

The value of building permits in Canada declined 3% from a month earlier to C$7.8 billion in July 2020, following a downwardly revised 5.7% rise in the prior month. The drop, however, was smaller than an expected 5.5% decline.