Canadian Market Modestly Lower As Materials, Consumer Staples Stocks Decline

(RTTNews) - After opening slightly lower and then moving marginally above the flat line, the Canadian benchmark index S&P/TSX Composite slipped into negative territory on Monday, weighed down by losses in materials, healthcare and consumer staples sectors.

The index, which edged up to 35,312.76 in early trades, dropped to a low of 35,053.94 before recovering to 35,184.43, down 90.41 points or 0.26%.

The Materials Capped Index fell 2.5% as several stocks in the sector shed ground despite a rise in precious metals prices. Among the major losers in the section, Pan American Silver Corp., Discovery Silver Corp. and K92 Mining slipped 5%-6%.

Seabridge Gold, Torex Gold Resources, First Majestic Silver, Aris Mining Corporation, Centerra Gold, Wesdome Gold Mines, Silvercorp Metals and Abrasilver Resource Corp. declined 4%-5%.

Among healthcare stocks, Curaleaf Holdings and Bausch Health Companies lost 3.7% and 2.5%, respectively.

In the consumer staples sector, Weston George lost 2.5%. Loblaw, Metro, Saputo, The North West Company and Alimentation Couche-Tard slipped 1%-2%.

Constellation Software, Cascades, Vermilion Energy, Restaurant Brands International, Imperial Oil, Cineplex, Canadian Utilities, Hydro One, EQB and Open Text Corporation were among the notable losers from other sectors.

Celestica climbed over 4% and Bombardier moved up nearly 4%. Aecon, Gran Tierra Energy, CAE, Brookfield Business Partners, Linamar, Russel Metals, Canada Goose Holdings, Enerflex, Rogers Communications, Magna International, Computer Modelling, Brookfield, Mullen, Onex and Martinrea International gained 1.5%-3.4%.

Data from S&P Global showed, the S&P Global Canada Composite PMI declined to 47.9 in June, marking the first contraction in 6 months in private-sector business activity, down from 50.8 in May.

Canada's S&P Global Services PMI fell to 47.1 in June from 50.6 in May, signalling a contraction in the services sector and the steepest decline in activity since February.