TSX Falters After Positive Start, Ends Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - After opening higher and holding on in positive territory till noon, the Canadian stock market faltered and kept sliding as the session progressed and eventually ended with sharp losses on Monday.

The weak close in European markets, a big sell-off on Wall Street and falling commodity prices, amid rising concerns about global economic slowdown and falling corporate earnings hurt sentiment and forced investors to exit counters.

The mood turned extremely bearish after a report from Bloomberg said the U.S. is preparing to announce tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports if next month's talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping fail to ease the trade war. Bloomberg said the announcement about new round of tariffs on nearly $260 billion worth of goods, could come by early December.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 166.51 points, or 1.12%, at 14,721.75, after having rallied to 15,019.63 earlier in the session. The index touched a low of 14,639.70 intraday.

On Friday, the index closed down by 35.82 points, or 0.24%, at 14,888.26.

Energy stocks tumbled after crude oil prices drifted lower on demand growth concerns. Marijuana stocks plunged sharply, extending recent losses. Materials stocks eased as gold prices dropped. Information technology and consumer discretionary stocks too ended mostly lower.

The Capped Energy Index shed about 3%. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Encana Corporation (ECA.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Husky Energy (HSE.TO), Vermilion Energy Inc. (VET.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TOU.TO) and PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO) lost 2 to 3.7%, while ARC Resources (ARX.TO) ended lower by 4.7%. Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) and Baytex Energy (BTE.TO) also ended sharply lower.

The Materials Index ended lower by a little over 1%. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) ended 5.1% down and Methanex Corporation (MX.TO) declined by 3.2%. Nutrien (NTR.TO) and Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) lost 1.1% and 1.2%, respectively. Lundin Mining Corporation (LUN.TO) ended 2.7% down.

The Capped Healthcare Index lost over 10%. Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB.TO) plunged more than 16%, Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) tanked 14.1%, Aphria Inc. (APH.TO) lost 17.35%, Bausch Health Companies Inc. (BHC.TO) lost about 3.7% and Extendicare (EX.TO) declined by 3.3%. Hexo Corporation (HEXO.TO) shed about 8%.

Among bank stocks, National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) both ended lower by about 1.1%, Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) eased by about 0.5% and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) shed about 0.7%.

In the technology space, Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO) declined by 3.3%, BlackBerry (BB.TO) ended 1.7% down, Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) ended lower by 1.3%, Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO) declined 1.4% and Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) ended with a loss of about 2.1%. Celestica Inc. (CLS.TO) ended 3.15% up.

Despite political concerns in Germany, markets in Europe moved higher on Monday, rebounding strongly after last week's losses. Asian markets ended on a mixed note, with Chinese stocks plunging sharply on concerns about economic growth and corporate earnings.

The U.S. market ended notably lower on trade worries. The Dow slumped 1%, the Nasdaq tumbled by 1.6% and the S&P 500 ended lower by 0.7%.

In U.S. economic news, data released by the U.S. Commerce Department showed personal income rose by slightly less than expected in the month of September, edging up by just 0.2%, after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.4% a month earlier. Economists had expected income to rise by 0.3%.

Meanwhile, personal spending was up 0.4% in September, after increasing by an upwardly revised 0.5% in August.

A reading on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve showed the annual rate of core consumer price growth held at 2% for the fifth straight month.

In commodities, Crude oil futures for December ended down $0.55, or 0.8%, at $67.04 a barrel amid demand growth concerns.

Gold futures for December ended down $8.20, or 0.7%, at $1,227.60 an ounce, the lowest settlement in a week.

Silver futures for December ended down $0.0258, at $14.442 an ounce, while Copper futures for December were lower by $0.0005, at $2.7405 per pound.