TSX Ends Lower For 7th Straight Day

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended weak on Thursday, extending its losing streak to a seventh day, as concerns about higher borrowing costs, inflation and geopolitical tensions continued to weigh on sentiment.

Higher bond yields hurt technology stocks, contributing significantly to market's weak close. Industrials, healthcare and materials shares were among the other prominent losers.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 72.54 points or 0.38% at 18,875.31. The index, which climbed to 18,987.40 around mid morning, dropped to a low of 18,811.30 around mid afternoon.

Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), which plunged more than 10%, was the biggest loser in the technology sector. Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO), Open Text Corp (OTEX.TO) and Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO) ended lower by 2 to 3.5%.

Waste Connections (WCN.TO) ended down 6.6%, topping the lost of losers in the industrials sector. Telus International (TIXT.TO), Brookfield Business Partners (BBU.UN.TO), Gfl Environmental (GLF.TO), Cargojet (CJT.TO) and Ballard Power Systems (BLDP.TO) declined 2 to 4%.

Healthcare stocks Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) and Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) ended lower by 2.5% and 2%, respectively.

In the materials sector, K92 Mining Inc (KNT.TO), Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Franco-Nevada Corp (FNV.TO) and Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO) were among the prominent losers.

Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) gained about 2.3%. Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO) and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) gained 1 to 2%.

Canadian Utilities (CU.TO) gained 1.7%. The company reported third quarter 2023 adjusted earnings of $87 million ($0.32 per share), compared to $120 million ($0.45 per share) in the third quarter of 2022.

ATCO Ltd. (ACO.X.TO) gained nearly 2%. The company reported third quarter 2023 adjusted earnings of $81 million ($0.71 per share), compared to $87 million ($0.76 per share) in the year-ago quarter.

On the economic front, a report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business showed Canada's CFIB Business Barometer long-term optimism index fell for the second straight month to 47.2 in October 2023 from 48.7 in the prior month. It was the lowest reading since April 2020.

Data from Statistics Canada showed average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees in Canada remained unchanged at 4.2% year-on-year to $1,218 in August of 2023, after the July reading was revised down from 4.3%.

According to preliminary estimates, manufacturing sales in Canada likely fell by 0.1% from a month earlier in September 2023, following a 0.7% gain in August.