The Canadian stock market trended downward for the sixth consecutive session after the Bank of Canada held the interest rates steady, but with higher energy prices and persistence in underlying inflation, it said, “further easing in inflation is likely to be slow, and inflationary risks have increased.” The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended the highly volatile session with a loss of 39 points, or 0.2%, to settle at 18,948, posting its longest losing streak since June.
Even as a strength in crude oil and natural gas prices drove energy stocks higher, most other key market sectors, primarily healthcare, technology, and real estate, posted steep losses, pressuring the TSX benchmark.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Tech stocks like Dye & Durham, Nuvei, Lightspeed Commerce, and Shopify were the worst performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange yesterday, as they plunged by at least 6.9% each.
On the flip side, shares of Waste Connections (TSX:WCN) defied the bear market gravity by rising 2.7% to $189.49 per share. These gains in WCN stock came, as investors awaited the Woodbridge-based solid waste services company’s latest quarterly financial results, released after the market closing bell.
In the third quarter of 2023, Waste Connections’s total revenue rose 9.8% year over year to US$2.1 billion. Excluding impairments and acquisition-related items, the company’s adjusted quarterly earnings rose 6.4% from a year ago to US$1.17 per share, exceeding Street analysts’ estimates. On a year-to-date basis, WCN stock is now up 5.6%.
Fairfax Financial, goeasy, and Athabasca Oil were also among the top-performing TSX stocks in the last session, as they inched up by at least 2.5% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, Enbridge, TD Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, and TC Energy were the most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
As the geopolitical situation in the Middle East remains tense, gold and silver prices traded on a firm note early Thursday morning, which could lift the shares of precious metal miners on the TSX today.
While the market continues to assess the Bank of Canada’s latest monetary policy report, investors will also closely monitor the quarterly GDP (gross domestic product) growth, monthly durable goods orders, pending home sales, and weekly jobless claims data from the United States this morning, which could keep TSX stock volatile.
On the corporate events side, many TSX-listed companies, Eldorado Gold, Advantage Energy, Tamarack Valley Energy, Atco, Precision Drilling, FirstService, Canadian Utilities, and Winpak, are expected to announce their latest quarterly results on October 26.
Market movers on the TSX today
