TSX Ends Modestly Lower; Materials, Energy Stocks Lose On Weak Commodity Prices

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended on a weak note on Monday, hurt by losses in energy and materials shares as a stronger dollar weighed on commodity prices.

With a slew of crucial economic data due this week, and the Bank of Canada's monetary policy announcement due on Wednesday, investors stayed cautious.

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

A good show by select stocks from healthcare, real estate, communications and consumer sectors, helped limit the market's downside.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 42.66 points or 0.21% at 20,410.21. The index touched a low of 20,341.36 and a high of 20,473.19 intraday.

BRP Inc (DOO.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.A.TO), Ag Growth International (AFN.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) and Nutrien (NTR.TO) ended lower by 2 to 3.4%.

Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Toromont Industries (TIH.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) and George Weston (WN.TO) drifted down 1 to 1.6%.

Russel Metals (RUS.TO) shares gained 5.5% after the company said that it has agreed to buy seven service center locations from Samuel, Son & Co., Ltd. for about $225 million.

Nuvei Corporation (NVEI.TO) rallied 6.3% after the company announced that it has teamed up with Microsoft to deliver payment experiences for customers of its products, solutions, and services across key markets.

Healthcare stocks Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) and Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) gained 7.4% and 2%, respectively.

West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO) and Cogeco Inc (CGO.TO) ended stronger by 4.9% and 4.3%, respectively.

Cogeco Communications (CCA.TO) climbed 3.75%. CCL Industries (CCL.A.TO), Molson Coors Canada (TPX.B.TO) and Cargojet (CJT.TO) gained 1.6 to 2.3%.