TSX ends lower for third day as growth concerns weigh

By Fergal Smith

(Reuters) -Canada's main stock index ended lower for a third straight day on Thursday, as the recent decline in oil prices weighed on energy shares and investors awaited U.S. employment data for potential signs of an economic slowdown.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended down 52.48 points, or 0.2%, at 22,988.28, adding to its declines on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"Equities are struggling for direction ahead of a key (U.S.) jobs report," said Angelo Kourkafas, a senior investment strategist at Edward Jones.

"There are some growth concerns ... We are back into the mode of bad news being bad news and good news being good news and that's the lens through which the market and investors are going to interpret tomorrow's data."

The U.S. and Canadian employment reports for August are due for release on Friday. A step-down in U.S. hiring in July rattled investors and fanned concerns that a recession was stalking the economy.

Data on Thursday showed that Canada's services economy contracted for a third straight month in August as firms employed less workers and wildfires contributed to a slowdown in new business.

The energy sector fell 1.5% as the price of oil held near its lowest level this year. Industrials were also a drag, falling 0.8%, and consumer discretionary ended 1.6% lower.

In contrast, consumer staples added 0.6% and heavily weighted financials were up 0.2%.

The sector was helped by a gain of 1.4% for the shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce as the lender named Jon Hountalas vice chair of North American banking.

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