TSX Ends Weak For 2nd Straight Session

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended modestly lower on Monday after moving in a very tight band in lackluster trade.

With the U.S. market closed for Juneteenth, and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimonies and the Bank of England's monetary policy due later in the week, the mood in the Canadian market was very cautious.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which moved between 19,917.62 and 19,985.21, ended with a loss of 41.16 points or 0.21% at 19,934.21.

Industrials shares Ballard Power Systems (BLDP.TO), Stantec Inc (STN.TO), Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO), WSP Global (WSP.TO) and Snc-Lavali (SNC.TO) lost 1 to 2%.

Consumer discretionary shares Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO), Park Lawn Corp (PLC.TO), Sleep Country Canada Holdings (ZZZ.TO) and Magna International (MG.TO) ended weak.

Communications shares Cogeco Communications (CCA.TO) and Quebecor Inc (QBR.B.TO) ended lower by about 2% and 1.25%, respectively.

National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO), Onex Corp (ONEX.TO), IGM Financial Inc (IGM.TO) and Power Corporation of Canada (POW.TO) were among the notable losers in the financials sector.

Materials shares Fortuna Silver Mines (FVI.TO) and Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO) lost about 3.2% and 3.1%, respectively. Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), Novagold (NG.TO), Kinross Gold (K.TO) and Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO) ended lower by 1.4 to 1.7%.

Technology stock Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO) surged 8.4%. Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO), Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO), Alithya Group (ALYA.TO), Bitfarms (BTTF.TO) and Tecsys Inc (TCS.TO) also posted strong gains.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed raw materials prices in Canada decreased by 18.4% in May, the lowest reading in two years.

The data also showed producer prices in Canada slumped by 6.3% year-on-year in May 2023, after an upwardly revised 3.8% decline in the prior month.