Energy, Materials Shares Dragging Down Canadian Market

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is down in negative territory Monday morning, weighed down by losses in materials and energy sectors. Stocks from the technology space are also weak.

Healthcare stocks are finding some support, and so do a few stocks from consumer discretionary and communications sectors.

The mood is quite positive with investors looking ahead to Bank of Canada's monetary policy announcement, due on Wednesday. Weak commodity prices, and higher bond yields are weighing as well.

The Canadian central bank is widely expected to leave interest rate unchanged.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 50.56 points or 0.25% at 20,402.31 about half an hour before noon. The index, which dropped to 20,341.36 in early trades, recovered to 20,473.19 before turning weak again.

The Materials Capped Index is down more than 2%. Capstone Mining Corp (CS.TO) is down more than 5%. Endeavour Silver Corp (EDR.TO), Lundin Mining Corp (LUN.TO), Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Fortuna Silver Mines (FVI.TO), First Majestic Silver Corp (FR.TO), Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), Novagold (NG.TO) and Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO) are down 3 to 5%.

The Energy Capped Index is down 1.3%. Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), International Petroleum Corp (IPCO.TO), Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO), Advantage Oil & Gas (AAV.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO), Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) are declining 1.5 to 3.2%.

Technology stocks Dye & Durham (DND.TO), Copperleaf Technologies (CPLF.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Coveo Solutions (CVO.TO) and Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO) are down 1.4 to 2.6%.

Healthcare stock Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) is climbing nearly 8% on fairly strong volumes. Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) is gaining about 1.75%.

Consumer discretionary stocks Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) and Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) are up 1.2% and 1.3%, respectively. Magna International (MG.TO) and Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.TO) both are up nearly 1%.

Communications shares Cogeco Communications (CCA.TO) and BCE Inc (BCE.TO) are up 3.5% and 1%, respectively.