TSX Ends Flat After Lackluster Session

(RTTNews) - After a slightly positive start, the Canadian market slipped into negative territory around mid morning, and despite losing further ground, recovered to end with a small gain on Friday.

The mood was cautious amid concerns about slowing growth in the U.S. and China.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 2.01 points or 0.01% at 20,419.62. The index, which climbed to 20,492.07 in early trades, touched a low of 20,346.90 around mid afternoon. The index shed about 0.6% in the week.

Technology stocks drifted lower, while shares from utilities, industrials, healthcare and materials sectors posted gains. Energy, financials and consumer sector stocks ended on a mixed note.

Shawcor Ltd. (SCL.TO) shares soared nearly 11%. The company reported net income of $25.23 million for the first quarter of 2023, compared with net loss of $6.9 million in the year-ago quarter.

Park Lawn Corporation (PLC.TO) climbed 8.8% after reporting net earnings of $4.58 million for the first quarter of 2023.

Stelco Corporation (STLC.TO), Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation (BIPC.TO), Boyd Group (BYD.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO), TFI International (TFII.TO) and Teck Resources (TECK.A.TO) gained 1.3 to 3.3%.

Air Canada (AC.TO) reported net income of $4 million for the first quarter of 2023, as against net loss of $974 million in the year-ago quarter. The stock gained about 0.5%.

CI Financial Corp (CIX.TO) plunged more than 17%. The company has agreed to sell a 20% minority investment in its US wealth management business to a group of institutional investors.

Nuvei Corporation (NVEI.TO), Maple Leaf Foods (MFI.TO), Ag Growth International (AFN.TO), Nutrien (NTR.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO) and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) ended lower by 2 to 4%.

Onex Corporation (ONEX.TO) ended 2.7% down. Onex reported net loss of $2.87 million for the quarter ended March 2023, compared with net income of $1.89 million in the year-ago quarter.