Equity instruments in Canada fell on the last trading day of the year on Thursday, weighed down by weakness in materials and energy stocks, while investors focused on fading prospects for bigger U.S. stimulus cheques.
The TSX retreated 59.6 points to begin the year’s last session at 17,486.21.
The Canadian dollar added 0.18 cents to 78.6 cents U.S.
The TSX is set to record a 2.5% gain in 2020, compared with a 19.1% jump last year, as a surge in coronavirus cases and strict restrictions weighed.
Cronos Group was among the biggest decliners on the index, falling 29 cents, or 3.1%, to $8.97, while rival Aurora Cannabis dropped 29 cents, or 2.6%, to $10.84.
Imperial Oil acquired two cents to $24.64.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was WPT Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust, which jumped eight cents to $18.48.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eased back 0.04 points to 865.22.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, as gold tumbled 1.7%, while materials and health-care each let go of 1.1%.
The lone holdout was in financials, up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were largely flat on Thursday as Wall Street wrapped up one of the most volatile years for the market in recent memory.
The Dow Jones Industrials squeaked higher 1.5 points to 30,411.06. Chevron was the biggest decliner in the Dow, falling 0.7%.
The S&P 500 poked higher 2.16 points to 3,734.20. The S&P 500 energy sector slipped 0.6%.
The NASDAQ removed 11.62 points to 12,858.38.
Ahead of the final session of 2020, the tech-heavy NASDAQ has gained 43.4% year to date, while the S&P 500 hiked 15.5% and Dow has risen 6.6%.
Investors digested on Thursday a better-than-expected reading on U.S. weekly jobless claims. The U.S. Labor Department declared the number of first-time unemployment-benefits filers totaled 787,000 for the week ending Dec. 26. Economists polled by Dow Jones were expecting a print of 828,000.
The latest leg higher for the market has been fueled by the rollout of vaccines and a new economic relief package from Congress, though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has blocked efforts to increase the amount of direct stimulus payments to $2,000 from $600.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were higher, lowering yields to 0.92%, from Wednesday’s 0.94%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped 48 cents to $47.92 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices muscled higher $8.60 to $1,902.
