Canadian Stocks Recover From Worst Levels But Close Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - After coming under pressure in morning trading on Friday, Canadian stocks regained some ground in the afternoon but still ended the day mostly lower.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index fell as much as 1.1 percent before eventually closing down 133.34 points or 0.4 percent at 31,527.39. The index had reached a record intraday high in early trading.

Despite the pullback on the day, the S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed by 0.7 percent for the week.

The weakness that has emerged on Bay Street earlier in the session coincided with a tech-led sell-off on Wall Street.

Broadcom (AVGO) helped lead the tech sector lower in the U.S. despite reporting better than expected fiscal fourth quarter results and providing upbeat guidance for the current quarter.

Tech stocks like Micron Technology (MU), Oracle (ORCL), Advance Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia (NVDA) also moved sharply lower, reflecting a continued rotation out of tech stocks.

Canadian tech stocks followed their U.S. peers lower, resulting in a 3.4 percent plunge by the S&P/TSX Capped Information Technology Index, although the index closed well off its lows.

On the other hand, healthcare stocks skyrocketed, resulting in an 8.9 percent spike by the S&P/TSX Capped Health Care Index.

On the economic front, Statistics Canada released a report showing the total value of building permits issued in Canada soared by 14.9 percent to C$13.8 billion in October, led by the residential sector.

Separate reports showed sales by Canadian wholesalers inched up by 0.1 percent in October, while Canadian industrial capacity utilization rose to 78.5 percent in the third quarter from 77.6 percent in the second quarter.