TSX Ends Weak For 2nd Straight Day

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended notably lower on Friday as investors chose to lighten commitments amid rising fears over a global recession.

The World Bank's latest report that warns of a global recession is weighing on sentiment. The World Bank has warned that the world could face a recession next year amid simultaneous tightening of monetary policy by central banks.

World Bank economists warned that the actions may not be enough to bring high prices under control, leading to a need for more interest rate hikes, which in turn will put the brakes on growth.

The World Bank called for boosting production and removing supply bottlenecks to ease inflation.

Several indicators of global recessions are already "flashing signs", the report said. The global economy is now in its steepest slowdown following a post-recession recovery since 1970, it added.

Healthcare, technology, industrials and energy stocks were the prominent losers. Several stocks from the financials sector too closed notably lower.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which tumbled nearly 280 points to 19,283.19 intraday, ended the session with a loss of 174.28 points or 0.89% at 19,385.88. The index ended lower by 0.84% on Thursday.

CargoJet (CJT.TO) drifted down 7.7%. Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Lithium Americas Corp (LAC.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), TFI International (TFII.TO), Spin Master Corp (TOY.TO) and Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) shed 4 to 6%.

Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO), Brp Inc (DOO.TO), Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO), Nutrien (NTR.TO) and FirstService Corporation (FSV.TO) also ended sharply lower.

Newmont Corporation (NGT.TO), Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), Rogers Communications (RCI.B.TO), Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO) and Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) gained 1.4 to 3.5%.

On the economic front, data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed housing starts in Canada decreased by 3% over a month earlier to 267,443 units in August of 2022.

Data from Statistics Canada showed wholesale sales in Canada fell 0.6% month-over-month in July of 2022, as expected, following two consecutive months of record-high sales.