TSX Ends Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended notably lower on Thursday, weighed down by losses in real estate, communications, materials and utilities sectors.

Several stocks from energy, technology, consumer discretionary and industrials sectors fell as well, a few stocks from the healthcare sectors posted strong gains.

Weak bullion prices hurt materials shares. Investors were also reacting to quarterly earnings updates. The market also digested the European Central Bank's monetary policy.

The ECB raised its lending rate by 25 basis points today, and signaled a pause in rate hikes as soon as September.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended lower by 176.17 points or 0.86% at 20,385.47.

Among the stocks in the real estate sector, Colliers International (CIGI.TO) dropped 6.65%. CDN Apartment (CAR.UN.TO) drifted down 2.8% and Granite Real Estate Investment Trust (GRT.UN.TO) ended lower by 1.8%.

FirstService Corp (FSV.TO) ended down 0.41% despite reporting adjusted EPS of $1.46 for the second quarter, up from C$1.12 per share in the year-ago quarter.

In the communications section, Rogers Communications (RCI.B.TO) ended 5.5% down. Quebecor (QBR.B.TO), Telus Corp (T.TO) and BCE Inc (BCE.TO) lost 0.7 to 0.9%.

Atco Ltd. (ACO.X.TO), down 2.4%, was the biggest loser in the Utilities index. Atco posted adjusted net earnings of $87 million ( $0.77 per share) in the second quarter, $5 million ($0.04 per share) lower compared to $92 million ($0.81 per share) in the second quarter of 2022.

Among materials shares, Endeavour Silver Corp (EDR.TO) tumbled 8.8%. Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO), MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), First Majestic Silver (FR.TO), Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO), Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) and Seabridge (SEA.TO) ended lower by 6 to 7.6%.

Energy stocks Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Athabasca Oil Corp (ATH.TO), Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO), Secure Energy (SES.TO) and Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) lost 2 to 5%.

Among the gainers, Tilray (TLRY.TO) soared 10.6%. Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) and Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO) climbed 9.3% and 7%, respectively.

Ag Growth International (AFN.TO) ended stronger by 2.7% and Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) gained 1.8%.

On the economic front, a report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said Canada's CFIB Business Barometer long-term optimism index edged higher by 0.2 points from the previous month to 54.2 in July.

Data from Statistics Canada showed average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees in Canada rose to 3.6% year-on-year to $1,201 in May 2023, after a 2.9% increase in the prior month. It was the highest increase in earnings since November last year.