TSX extends weekly winning streak on rate cut optimism
TSX ends down 0.3% at 23,956.8
For the week, the index gains 0.4%
Materials group pulls back 2.1%
Energy rallies 2%; oil settles 0.8% higher
Updates at market close
By Fergal Smith
Sept 27 (Reuters) -Canada's main stock index ended lower on Friday but still notched its third straight weekly gain, helped by recent central bank interest rate cuts that entice investors to move out of cash into high-dividend paying stocks.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE ended down 77.01 points, or 0.3%, at 23,956.82, after posting a record closing high the day before.
For the week, the index was up 0.4%, adding to gains in the previous two weeks.
"Value strategies as well as dividend-yield products and low-vol (volatility) methodologies have been doing quite well," said Sid Mokhtari, chief market technician for CIBC Capital Markets. "They are scoring well because of the fact that a rate cut cycle in the U.S. has begun."
The Federal Reserve is expected to ease interest rates further over the coming months after cutting last week for the first time in four years.
The Bank of Canada has also been lowering borrowing costs. Canada's gross domestic product rose 0.2% rate in July, but an advance estimate indicated that growth likely stalled in August, bolstering hopes for a super-sized rate cut next month.
"We still think there are plenty of investments that are still sitting within term deposits and GICs (guaranteed investment certificates) that may find their way into equities that have a higher yielding backdrop, and that has been buoying the financials and REITs and telecoms," Mokhtari said.
The materials group fell 2.1% on Friday, giving back some recent gains, as the price of gold XAU= pulled back from a record high.
Technology ended 1.7% lower, with shares of Blackberry Ltd BB.TO declining 2.3% after the company's second-quarter results failed to impress investors.
Energy helped limit the TSX's decline. It rallied 2% as oil settled 0.8% higher at $68.18 a barrel, clawing back some recent losses.
Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo and Daniel Wallis
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