TSX posts biggest tumble in nearly 2 months

Canada's main stock index tumbled the most since mid-September on Friday as lower commodity prices pressured the shares of energy and mining companies, while financials and industrials also lost ground. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index closed down 188.84 points, or 1.28 percent, at 14,555.41. Losses for the index left it just 0.3 percent higher for the week and below the 14,656.84 level it closed at on Tuesday before the result of the US presidential election.
"We still have a defensive positioning," said Manash Goswami, portfolio manager at First Asset Investment Management. The initial thought was that tax cuts and less financial sector regulation proposed by US President-elect Donald Trump could be good for stocks. But investors are now asking if protectionist policy could lead to slower global growth and if a reduced role for the US government in world security could destabilize regions, Goswami said.
All 10 of the index's main groups ended lower. The energy group fell 1.3 percent as oil prices tumbled. US crude oil futures settled $1.25 lower at $43.41 a barrel as the market refocused on a persistent supply overhang. Enbridge Inc fell 2.7 percent to C$55.12, while TransCanada Corp was down 2.1 percent at C$58.91, paring some of this week's gains on bets that Trump might revive the Keystone XL pipeline.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 4.3 percent as gold prices sank to a five-month low, pressured by a jump this week in bond yields as investors bet that a splurge of US infrastructure spending could stoke inflation. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd slumped 8.9 percent to C$57.19 and Barrick Gold Corp declined 5.5 percent to C$20.06, while gold futures tumbled 3.2 percent to $1,225.2 an ounce.
Financials fell 0.4 percent and industrials declined 1 percent, including losses for railroad stocks. Still, both sectors have posted solid gains since Tuesday. Kirkland Lake Gold Inc said it rejected a previously unreported takeover offer from South Africa's Gold Fields Ltd and Silver Standard Resources valuing the business at C$1.44 billion. The company's shares, which were trading at C$7.42 just ahead of the news, jumped as much as 8 percent to hit C$8.17 before being halted on the Toronto Stock Exchange.