The Canadian stock market trended downward for the second consecutive session on Wednesday as investors continued to flee risks amid the growing possibility of a recession. The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped by 120 points, or 0.6%, yesterday to settle at 19,436 after touching its lowest level since March in intraday trading.
Even the release of better-than-expected U.S. durable goods orders data and a steep rally in crude oil prices failed to gain investors’ confidence, who largely remained worried about the economic outlook. While healthcare and energy stocks remained in the green territory, a selloff in utilities, metal mining, and real estate sectors mainly pressured the TSX benchmark.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Africa Oil, Brookfield Renewable Partners, Lithium Americas, Algonquin Power & Utilities, and Storagevault Canada were the worst-performing TSX stocks for the session, as they plunged by at least 4.9% each.
On the positive side, Peyto Exploration & Development (TSX:PEY) popped by 8.3% to $13.60 per share, making it the top-performing TSX Composite component for the day. This rally in PEY stock came a day after the Calgary-headquartered oil and gas firm announced the completion of its bought deal equity financing.
In a press release, Peyto told investors that it has issued roughly 16.92 million subscription receipts “at a price of $11.90 per subscription receipt for gross proceeds of approximately $201 million.” Yesterday’s gains trimmed PEY stock’s year-to-date losses to 1.9%.
Bombardier, Athabasca Oil, and Methanex were also among the top performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange as they inched up by at least 4% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor Energy, TC Energy, and Baytex Energy were the most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
After touching their highest level in more than a year in overnight trading, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures prices were mixed early Thursday morning. At the same time, gold prices were trading at their lowest level in more than six months, but copper prices were showcasing strength. Given these mixed to slightly negative signals from the commodities market, I expect the main TSX index to remain under pressure at the open today.
While no key domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors will closely monitor pending home sales and the important quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) data from the United States this morning. In the afternoon, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s comments about the economy during a town hall meeting with educators will remain on TSX investors’ radar.
On the corporate events side, TSX-listed companies BlackBerry and Aritzia are expected to announce their latest quarterly results after the market closing bell on September 28.
Market movers on the TSX today
