TSX Ends Weak For 2nd Straight Day

(RTTNews) - Save for a few minutes at the start, the Canadian stock market languished in negative territory on Tuesday, as worries about growth due to surging coronavirus cases rendered the mood cautious.

Investors, looking for directional clues, were reluctant to make significant moves. Uncertainty about a fiscal stimulus in the U.S. and a weak reading of U.S. consumer confidence index weighed as well.

On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada is scheduled to announce its interest rate decision.

Financial and consumer discretionary stocks drifted down and closed notably lower, contributing to market's weak close.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 58.61 points or 0.36% at 16,020.94. The index, which advanced to 16,104.59 in early trades, touched a low of 15,999.24 about an hour past noon.

The Capped Financials Index slid 1.68%. Manulife Financial (MFC.TO), CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO), CI Financial Corp (CIX.TO), Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.A.TO) and Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) lost 2 to 2.7%.

Onex Corp (ONEX.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) declined 1.5 to 2%.

Among consumer discretionary shares, Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) declined 3.8%. Magna International (MG.TO) and Dollarama (DOL.TO) ended lower by 1.75% and 1.6%, respectively.

Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) shares plunged more than 9%. Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) declined nearly 6% after reporting third quarter adjusted earnings per share of C$0.24 compared to C$0.69, a year ago.

Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Air Canada (AC.TO) and Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) also closed sharply lower.

Husky Energy (HSE.TO) shares surged up 7.3%, extending gains from previous session. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), which plunges sharply on Monday, closed with a gain of about 6.7%.

Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO), Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO), BRP Inc. (DOO.TO), Lightspeed Pos (LSPD.TO) and CargoJet (CJT.TO) also ended with impressive gains.