TSX hits near two-week low as energy shares slide
By Fergal Smith
(Reuters) -Canada's main stock index ended lower on Monday, consolidating this month's gains, as oil prices fell and despite upbeat holiday sales data boosting the shares of e-commerce company Shopify.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended down 70.45 points, or 0.4%, at 20,032.66, its lowest closing level since Nov. 14.
Still, it has gained 6.1% since the start of the month.
"We have seen a month with a sizable rally in both stocks and bonds so it is not surprising at this moment to take a breather," said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones.
The energy sector fell 1.6% as oil settled 0.9% lower at $74.86 a barrel ahead of an OPEC+ meeting this week.[O/R]
Financials also lost ground, falling 0.4%, as investors awaited the start of bank earnings season on Tuesday. Canada's big banks are likely to wrap up a challenging financial year with another quarter of declining profits and rising bad debt provisions amid a slowing economy.
Technology was a bright spot, adding 1.6%. It was led by a gain of 4.4% for Shopify Inc after the company reported record Black Friday sales data.
"Looking at some early data points, spending is going to reach record levels during this holiday season," said Kourkafas. "It is consistent with the theme of consumer resiliency that's kept the economy out of recession this year."
Data on Friday showed unexpected strength in Canadian retail sales.
The materials sector, which houses precious and base metal miners and fertilizer companies, also gained ground.
It was up 0.3% as the price of gold climbed 0.6% to roughly $2,014 per ounce and despite additional pressure on the shares of First Quantum Minerals.
They fell 4.3% as the company said two people died at its Zambian operations last week.
(Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid, Marguerita Choy and Grant McCool)
