Canadian stocks went sideways on Thursday, as the TSX Composite Index ended the session at 21,938 — without any major change from its previous closing. On the one hand, weakness in the real estate, consumer, and technology sectors pressured the benchmark. A sharp rally in cannabis stocks helped the main market index end the session without any losses on the other. In addition, a consistent upward movement in gold and silver prices took the shares of precious metals mining companies higher.
Top TSX movers and active stocks
Fortuna Silver Mines (TSX:FVI)(NYSE:FSM) was the worst-performing TSX stock on March 24, as it fell by 7% to $4.88 per share after the company reported its Q4 2021 results. During the quarter, the Canadian precious metal mining firm’s sales jumped sharply up by more than 92%, exceeding analysts’ expectations. In contrast, Fortuna Silver’s adjusted earnings for the quarter of $0.12 per share missed Street’s estimates. After yesterday’s losses, FVI stock has now entered the negative territory on a year-to-date basis.
Interfor and West Fraser Timber were also among bottom-performing shares yesterday, as they fell by nearly 4% each.
On the positive side, the shares of cannabis companies like Tilray Brands, Canopy Growth, Aurora Cannabis, and Cronos Group staged a massive rally, making them the four top-performing stocks on the main Canadian market index. Notably, Tilray stock led the rally with a massive 22.4% rise for the day after Marijuana Moment reported that next week, the U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote on a bill to federally legalize marijuana.”
Energy stocks like TC Energy, Suncor Energy, Cenovus Energy, and Crescent Point Energy were the most active stocks on March 24 based on their daily trade volume.
TSX today
Early Friday morning, crude oil prices were witnessing a pullback, with metals prices going sideways. Given these mixed signals from the commodities market, energy stocks are likely to trade negatively on the TSX at the open today. Any latest update related to the ongoing efforts to legalize marijuana in the U.S. could keep Canadian cannabis shares highly volatile in the near term.
The Canadian powersports vehicle maker BRP is set to announce its January quarter results today. Analysts expect the company’s revenue for the quarter to be around $2.29 billion and its earnings to be near $2.53 per share.
