TSX Ends Weak After Lackluster Session

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended notably lower on Friday, dragged down by losses in materials and technology shares.

Despite positive updates on the coronavirus vaccine front, the mood was cautious right through the session due to concerns over rising coronavirus cases in the U.S. and several other countries across the world.

Uncertainty over post-Brexit trade deal, and a lack of positive progress in U.S. fiscal stimulus talks too weighed on sentiment. Also, investors appeared keen on taking some profits after recent gains.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 118.31 points or 0.67% at 17,534.63. The index, which opened modestly higher at 17,676.60, touched a low of 17,517.20 in the session.

OceanaGold (OGC.TO), Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO), Novagold (NG.TO), Yamana Gold (YRI.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), Franco-Nevada Corp (FNV.TO) and Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO) lost 2.5 to 6%.

Technology stock BlackBerry (BB.TO) plunged nearly 16% after the company reported a wider loss for the latest quarter. BlackBerry reported net loss of $130 million for the quarter ended November 30, 2020, compared to net loss of $32 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) plunged nearly 9% despite reporting a 19% increase in net income in the quarter ended October 31, 2020. Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO), Celestica Inc. (CLS.TO) and Lightspeed Pos (LSPD.TO) lost 1.6 to 2.8%.

Real estate stocks were the other major losers. Shares from utilities, energy and financial sections too closed mostly weak, while healthcare, consumer discretionary, telecom and industrial shares ended mixed.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed retail sales in the country rose 0.4% in the month of October, after surging 1.1% a month earlier. Year-on-year, sales were up 7.5% in October 2020, compared to an increase of 5.6% (revised) in October 2019.