Canadian stocks turned negative on Thursday after consistently climbing in the first two sessions of 2023 after strong U.S. non-farm employment numbers raised the possibility of more interest rate hikes in the near term. The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped 82 points, or 0.4%, for the session to settle at 19,507.
Despite a downward reversal in precious metals prices, strengthening base metals and a recovery in crude oil pushed the commodity-linked stocks higher. However, other key stock market sectors, like utilities, industrials, real estate, and technology, led the market selloff, pressuring the main TSX index.
Top TSX movers and active stocks
Shares of Fortuna Silver Mines (TSX: FVI) plunged 10.4% to $4.73 per share, making it the worst-performing TSX stock for the day. This selloff in FVI stock came after the Vancouver-headquartered miner revealed that Mexico’s environmental ministry is re-assessing the 12-year extension to the environmental impact authorization for its Oaxaca, Mexico-based San Jose Mine. The mine is run by Fortuna Silver’s subsidiary Minera Cuzcatlan, which received a 12-year extension to the environmental impact authorization in December 2021. Meanwhile, Fortuna said it would challenge the ministry’s decision to re-assess the extension. After gaining 3% value last year, Fortuna Silver stock is now down 7.1% in 2023.
Canopy Growth, Dye & Durham, and ECN Capital were also among the bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange yesterday, as they slipped by at least 4% each.
On the positive side, Teck Resources, Bausch Health Companies, Filo Mining, Nutrien, and Methanex were among the top-performing stocks on the exchange, as they inched up by more than 4% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, Suncor Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, TD Bank, and Algonquin Power & Utilities were the most active TSX Composite components on January 5.
TSX today
Commodity prices across the board were trading on a mixed note early Friday morning, pointing to a flat open for the resource-heavy TSX index today.
Statistics Canada will release December’s domestic employment this morning. Besides that, Canadian investors may also want to keep a close eye on the IVEY purchasing managers index (PMI) data today to get an idea about the latest trends in economic activity. From the U.S. market, monthly non-farm payrolls, unemployment rate, and non-manufacturing PMI data are likely to remain on investors’ radars on January 6.
