Canadian Market Down Firmly In Negative Territory; Energy Stocks Outperform

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is languishing in negative territory on Monday with stocks from across several sectors reeling under selling pressure as investors look for directional clues.

Trade war fears in the wake of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's tariff threats, and persisting concerns about geopolitical tensions, and interest rate uncertainty appear to be weighing on sentiment.

Consumer discretionary, technology, materials, consumer staples, communications and industrials stocks are notably lower. Several stocks from financials, utilities and healthcare stocks are weak as well, while a few stocks from the energy sectors are up with strong gains.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 196.67 points or about 0.8% at 24,599.73 a few minutes before noon.

Data from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business showed that the CFIB's Business Barometer in Canada, which reflects 12-month forward expectations for business performances in the country, fell to 56.4 in December from the upwardly revised 59.8 in the previous month, which was the highest since mid-2022.

Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO), Cargojet (CJT.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), Dayforce (DAY.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) are down 1.7 to 2,5%.

Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), FirstService Corporation (FSV.TO), Colliers International (CIGI.TO), George Weston (WN.TO), Loblaw Companies (L.TO) and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) are also notably lower.

Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO) is rising more than 5%. Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO) is gaining nearly 4%. Enerflex (EFX.TO), Advantage Energy (AAV.TO), Source Energy Services (SHLE.TO), Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO), Topaz Energy (TPZ.TO) and Arc Resources (ARX.TO) are up 1.4 to 4%.