TSX Today: Why Canadian Stocks Could Fall on Wednesday, October 19

Canadian stocks continued to recover for a second consecutive session on Tuesday as better-than-expected quarterly earnings from the U.S. market boosted investors’ confidence. The TSX Composite Index climbed by 177 points, or 1%, yesterday to settle at 18,798. Despite continued weakness in crude oil and base metals prices, the commodity-heavy Canadian market benchmark traded on a bullish note, mainly with the help of a sharp rally in shares of companies from the industrials, technology, consumer, and utilities sectors.

Top TSX movers and active stocks

Shares of gold mining firm IAMGOLD (TSX: IMG) popped by 18.4% to $1.74 per share on October 18. This rally in IMG stock came after the company announced a deal with the Chinese miner Zijin Mining Group to sell its 95% interest in South America-based Rosebel Gold Mines. According to the agreement, IAMGOLD will receive $360 million in cash for the deal, and its equipment lease liabilities of about $41 million will be released. While IAMGOLD investors reacted positively to this news in the last session, its stock still trades with 55.8% year-to-date losses.

Bombardier, Innergex Renewable Energy, and Shopify were also among the top-performing TSX stocks yesterday, as they inched up by more than 3.5% each.

In contrast, First Quantum Minerals, Ero Copper, and Advantage Energy fell by at least 3% each, making them the worst-performing TSX Composite components for the day.

Based on their daily trade volume, Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank, Suncor Energy, and Cenovus Energy were the most active stocks on the exchange.

TSX today

Commodity prices across the board were trading on a bearish note early Wednesday morning, pointing to a lower opening for the main TSX index today, with expected big losses in mining and energy stocks. Besides the important domestic inflation data for September, Canadian investors may also want to keep a close eye on the latest building permits and crude oil stockpiles data from the U.S. market this morning. It’s important to note that hotter-than-expected inflation numbers could raise the possibility of continued rapid interest rate hikes in the near term and pressure growth stocks further.

On the corporate events front, Canadian companies Winpak and Mullen Group are expected to announce their latest quarterly results on October 19, which could keep their stocks volatile.