TSX gives back much of weekly gain amid US rate cut jitters

Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index rises to a record high · Reuters

By Fergal Smith

(Reuters) -Canada's main stock index posted broad-based declines on Friday as the prospect of a slower pace of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts spurred investors to take some profits on gains made since the U.S. presidential election.

The S&P/TSX composite index ended down 158.99 points, or 0.63%, at 24,890.68, after posting a record closing high on Thursday.

For the week, the index was up 0.5%, as the prospect of tax cuts and looser business regulations under the incoming Trump administration boosted investor sentiment globally.

"The U.S. market is giving back some of the Trump rally and that's what's filtering over into Canada," said Lorne Steinberg, president, Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc.

"It's got nothing to do with any fundamentals but probably a lot of the Trump rally had not much to do with fundamentals for Canadian stocks anyway."

Shares on Wall Street tumbled after comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell pointed to a slower pace of interest rate cuts.

Seven of ten major sectors on the Toronto market lost ground, including the resource sectors.

Energy <.SPTTEN> was down 1.2%, with the price of oil settling 2.45% lower at $67.02 a barrel as investors fretted about weaker Chinese demand.

The materials group , which includes fertilizer companies and metal mining shares, ended 0.9% lower. Heavily weighted financials lost 0.6% and industrials <.GSPTTIN> were down 0.9%.

One bright spot was a modest gain for the shares of BCE. BCE pays a dividend in excess of 10%, but the shares have been in a downward spiral since the company's announcement of a U.S. acquisition earlier this month.

"There are people chasing the dividend for BCE," Steinberg said.

Mixed domestic economic data included a 7.7% jump in October home sales, extending the rise in activity since the Bank of Canada began cutting interest rates.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Marguerita Choy)