The stock market in Canada turned negative on Wednesday after significantly weaker-than-expected U.S. nonmanufacturing PMI (purchasing managers’ index) and private employment reports made investors worried about the economic outlook. In the latest national employment report, the ADP research institute’s chief economist Nela Richardson said the latest data “is one of several signals that the economy is slowing.”
These economic concerns drove the S&P/TSX Composite Index down by 116 points, or 0.6%, for the day to settle at 20,160. While consumer noncyclical and utility stocks witnessed renewed buying, heavy losses in other TSX sectors like healthcare, industrials, and consumer cyclicals primarily pressured the market benchmark.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
NovaGold Resources, Lithium Americas, BELLUS Health, and Brookfield Business Partners were the worst-performing TSX stocks for the day, as they plunged by at least 6% each.
On the positive side, Hudbay Minerals and Lundin Mining were the top performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange yesterday, as they inched up by at least 3.2% each.
Shares of North West Company (TSX:NWC) rose 2.8% to $37.47 per share after its upbeat latest quarterly earnings cheered investors. In the January quarter, the Winnipeg-headquartered retailer’s revenue increased 9.7% year over year to $635.2 million. Besides the stronger same-store sales with the contribution of higher inflation, its improved airline revenue and retail fuel sales in Canada also strengthened its total revenue.
With this, North West’s adjusted quarterly earnings jumped about 23% from a year ago to $0.75 per share, exceeding Bay Street analysts’ expectations of $0.56 per share by a sizeable margin. On a year-to-date basis, NWC stock now trades with 5.3% year-to-date gains and offers an attractive dividend yield of around 4.1%.
Based on their daily trade volume, TC Energy, Barrick Gold, Toronto-Dominion Bank, and Canadian Natural Resources were the most active Canadian stocks on April 5.
TSX today
Early Thursday morning, copper prices were trading on a bullish note, which could lift shares of copper mining companies on the TSX at the open today. Besides that, all other commodities were largely mixed in early trade. Besides weekly jobless claims data from the United States, Canadian investors may want to closely monitor the domestic employment change and Ivey PMI data for March this morning, which could give further direction to stocks.
It’s important to note that the financial markets in Canada and the United States will remain closed tomorrow for Good Friday. Despite the market holiday, the important U.S. monthly payrolls and unemployment rate reports are scheduled to be released tomorrow. These economic releases could add to the market volatility on Monday morning, as investors react.
On the corporate events side, the Montréal-based specialty hardware firm Richelieu Hardware will announce its latest quarterly results on April 6. Street analysts expect it to report earnings of $0.39 per share with the help of $376 million in revenue.
Market movers on the TSX today
