TSX Extends Losses To 4th Straight Session, Ends Nearly 1% Down

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended notably lower on Friday, weighed down by sharp losses in materials, energy and technology sectors.

Industrials and consumer discretionary stocks were among the other major losers.

Disappointing jobs data from the U.S. and Canada, and weak crude oil prices weighed on the market.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down by 206.85 points or 0.9% at 22,781.43, after scaling a low of 22,679.86 and a high of 23,119.34 intraday. The index shed 2.4% in the week.

The Materials Capped Index tumbled nearly 2%. Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Methanex Corp (MX.TO), Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO), Lundin Mining Corp (LUN.TO), Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO), First Majestic Silver Corp (AG.TO), Lundin Gold Inc (LUG.TO), Ero Copper (ERO.TO) and Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO) lost 3.7 to 5.6%.

Energy stock Ces Energy Solutions Corp (CEU.TO) dropped about 7.5%. Pason Systems (PSI.TO) and Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO) both ended down 4%. Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Secure Energy Services (SES.TO), Nuvista Energy (NVA.TO), International Petroleum Corp (IPCO.TO) and Mattr Corp (MATR.TO) lost 2.7 to 4%.

Among technology stocks, Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) plunged more than 10%. Bitfarms (BITF.TO) and Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO) lost 5.7% and 5.1%, respectively. Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO) and Computer Modelling Group (CMG.TO) ended down 2.7 t0 4%.

Enghouse Systems Ltd (ENGH.TO) shares outperformed and gained 5.55%, riding on stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Consumer discretionary stock Brp Inc (DOO.TO) ended down 4.5% on weak results. The company reported a net income of $7.2 million for the second quarter of its current financial year, a decrease of $331.5 million compared to the corresponding quarter last year

Spin Master Corp (TOY.TO) and Magna International (MG.TO) lost 2.6% and 2.4%, respectively. Linamar Corp (LNR.TO), Dollarama (DOL.TO), Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO) and Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) ended lower by 1 to 2%.

Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO), down nearly 5%, was the biggest loser in the Industrials Capped Index. Mda (MDA.TO), Snc-Lavalin Group Inc (ATRL.TO), WSP Global (WSP.TO), Badger Infrastructure (BDGI.TO), Richelieu Hardware (RCH.TO) and Finning International (FTT.TO) lost 2 to 3.4%.

Data from Statistics Canada showed employment in Canada rose by 22,100 in August 2024, following a 2,800 decline in the previous month, slightly below forecasts of a 25,000 increase.

The unemployment rate in Canada rose to 6.6% in August of 2024 from 6.4% in the earlier month, the highest since October of 2021, and surpassing market expectations of 6.5%.

Meanwhile, average hourly earnings in Canada increased to C$ 36.49 in August of 2024 over the previous month.

The U.S. Labor Department released a report showing employment in the world's largest economy rose by less than expected in the month of August.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 142,000 jobs in August compared to economist estimates for an increase of 160,000 jobs.

The report also said the increases in employment in June in July were downwardly revised to 118,000 jobs and 89,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net downward revision of 86,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate edged down to 4.2% in August from 4.3% in July.