The Canadian stock market continued to slide for the fifth straight session on Thursday, as investors remained skeptical about the economy’s strength in this high interest rate environment. A continued selloff across commodity markets added pessimism to drive S&P/TSX Composite Index down by 125 points, or 0.6%, to settle at 19,581, its lowest closing level in June so far.
Besides commodity-linked stocks, other key market sectors like real estate, consumer cyclicals, and financials also posted big losses. With this, the main TSX index has now seen a 2% value erosion this week so far.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Algoma Steel (TSX: ASTL) dived 8.8% to $9.17 per share, making it the worst-performing TSX stock for the day. The recent declines in ASTL stock came a day after the Sault Ste. Marie-headquartered steel products company announced its disappointing quarterly financial results.
In the fourth quarter of its fiscal year 2023 (ended in March), Algoma Steel’s revenue fell 28.1% year over year to $677.4 million due partly to soft market conditions. As a result of higher costs and lower steel prices, the company posted an adjusted quarterly loss of $20.4 million, significantly wider compared to Street analysts’ estimate of a $3 million loss. After its recent fall, ASTL stock is still up 7.3% year to date.
Baytex Energy, Methanex, and Spartan Delta were also among the bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange yesterday, as they plunged by at least 5% each.
On the positive side, Empire Company, BlackBerry, and Badger Infrastructure inched up by at least 2.5% each, making them the top-performing TSX Composite components for the day.
Based on their daily trade volume, Baytex Energy, TC Energy, Suncor Energy, and Manulife Financial were the most heavily traded stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Most commodity prices, especially copper and West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures, were trading with heavy losses early Friday morning. Given that, I expect the resource-heavy TSX index to remain under pressure at the open today. While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors may want to closely monitor the monthly U.S. service PMI (purchasing managers index) data this morning.
Overall, the TSX benchmark could witness high volatility in the near term, as concerns about a looming recession and more rate hikes continue to haunt investors.
Market movers on the TSX today
