The Canadian stock market was largely mixed for the third consecutive session on Tuesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of the Bank of Canada’s monetary policy event and the important U.S. consumer price index data. The S&P/TSX Composite Index posted a minor 56-point, or 0.3%, gain yesterday to close at 19,879.
TSX energy stocks staged a sharp rally after the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest short-term energy outlook report projected that crude oil prices could continue to strengthen in the coming quarters with an expected decline in global inventories. However, weakness in other main market sectors, such as consumer non-cyclicals, healthcare, and industrials, trimmed the index’s day gains.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Shares of TransAlta Renewables (TSX: RNW) popped 18.5% to $13.02 per share after revealing that TransAlta Corp. (TSX: TA) intends to buy RNW’s all outstanding shares that it doesn’t already own. According to the agreement signed by both companies, each of TransAlta Renewables’s shares will be exchanged for TransAlta’s 1.0337 common shares, or $13 in cash.
This transaction is expected to be completed early in the fourth quarter of this year, after which the combined company, TransAlta, will remain listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the “TA” symbol. After this news came out, TA stock also rose 1.2%.
Athabasca Oil, Ballard Power Systems, and Dye & Durham were also among the top-performing TSX stocks yesterday, as they inched up by at least 6.4% each.
In contrast, the share of Park Lawn, GFL Environmental, Transcontinental, and Trisura Group were among the bottom performers, as they plunged by at least 2.4% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, TD Bank, Athabasca Oil, Canadian Natural Resources, and Crescent Point Energy were the day’s most heavily traded TSX Composite components.
TSX today
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures and precious metals prices were largely bullish early Wednesday morning, which could lift commodity-linked stocks on the TSX at the open today.
Besides the Bank of Canada’s interest rate decision, press conference, and monetary policy report, Canadian investors may also want to keep a close eye on the latest consumer inflation data from the United States this morning, which could keep stocks highly volatile.
Market movers on the TSX today
