The Canadian stock market plunged for the fourth session in a row on Friday, as the Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem suggested that the central bank could hike interest rates further to curb underlying inflation. The S&P/TSX Composite Index gave up 57 points, or 0.3%, of its value in the last session to settle at 20,075, extending its weekly losses to 2.3%.
Despite positive movement in the shares of healthcare and consumer noncyclical companies, a heavy selloff in some technology stocks primarily drove the TSX index downward on September 8.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Wesdome Gold Mines, Filo, ATS, Ero Copper, and Shopify were the worst-performing TSX stocks for the day, as they dived by at least 3% each.
On the positive side, shares of Enghouse Systems (TSX: ENGH) rallied by 5% to $31.49 per share a day after announcing its upbeat quarterly results. In the third quarter of its fiscal year 2023 (ended in July), the Markham-headquartered enterprise software company’s revenue rose 8.7% year over year to $111 million due mainly to its increased focus on product enhancements and new acquisitions.
Even as Enghouse’s quarterly adjusted earnings fell 3% from a year ago to $0.32 per share amid the challenging macroeconomic environment, it managed to beat Street analysts’ estimate of $0.30 per share. Despite this rally, however, ENGH stock is still down 12.5% on a year-to-date basis.
OceanaGold, Bausch Health Companies, and Jamieson Wellness were also among the top gainers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, as they inched up by at least 2% each.
Based on their trade volume, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor Energy, Enbridge, and Nexgen Energy were the most heavily traded stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Metals prices across the board were trading on a bullish note early Monday morning, which could help TSX mining stocks start the new week on a positive note today.
While no major economic releases are due this morning, stocks may remain volatile in the next few sessions, as investors continue to assess the Bank of Canada’s latest monetary policy statement and await the important consumer inflation data from the United States due later this week.
Market movers on the TSX today
