The Canadian stock market tanked sharply on Tuesday after witnessing minor gains in the previous two sessions as hotter-than-expected U.S. consumer inflation numbers raised doubts among investors about interest rate reductions in the near future. These doubts, along with falling precious metals prices, drove the S&P/TSX Composite Index down by 482 points, or 2.3%, yesterday to 20,585 — registering its biggest single-day decline in more than 16 months.
While all key market sectors ended the session in red, shares of technology, mining, consumer cyclical, and real estate companies fell the most.
In its latest consumer inflation report, the U.S. Bureau Of Labour Statistics highlighted a continued increase in the shelter index as the biggest contributor to the rise of January’s all-items index even as the energy index eased.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Shares of SSR Mining (TSX:SSRM) nosedived by 53.5% to $6.08 per share, making it the worst-performing TSX stock for the day. This crash in SSRM stock came after the gold miner announced the suspension of operations at the Çöpler mine due to a significant slip on the heap leach pad on February 13. Although SSR Mining hasn’t yet announced its 2023 financial results, the Turkey-based Çöpler mine was the largest contributor to its 2022 total revenue.
Shopify (TSX:SHOP) stock also plunged by 12.5% to $104.85 per share after releasing its fourth-quarter earnings report, posting its steepest single-day percentage loss in slightly less than a year. In the December quarter, the e-commerce platform giant’s total revenue rose 23.6% year over year to US$2.14 billion.
Also, Shopify’s adjusted quarterly earnings of US$0.34 per share exceeded Street analysts’ expectations of US$0.31 per share. After delivering a 26% positive revenue growth in the full year 2023, however, the company expects its 2024 revenue to grow at a low-20s percentage rate due to the negative impact of the sales of its logistics businesses. This outlook could be one of the reasons why SHOP stock fell, despite its fourth-quarter earnings beat.
Centerra Gold, Sandstorm Gold, SilverCrest Metals, and Ero Copper were also among the bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, as they dived by at least 8.5% each.
On the flip side, Waste Connections and International Petroleum were the top-performing TSX stocks for the day as they rose at least 1.8% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, Suncor Energy, SSR Mining, Enbridge, TD Bank, and Shopify were the most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices, especially metals, were trading on a bearish note early Wednesday morning, pointing to a lower open for the resource-heavy main TSX index today. While no major domestic economic releases are due, energy investors may want to watch the weekly crude oil stockpile data from the United States this morning.
As the quarterly corporate earnings season continues in full swing, several TSX-listed companies, including CAE, Keyera, Barrick Gold, SmartCentres REIT, West Fraser Timber, Killam Apartment REIT, Kinross Gold, Choice Properties REIT, Manulife Financial, Dundee Precious Metals, Primaris REIT, and Great-West Lifeco, are likely to announce their latest quarterly results on February 14.
Market movers on the TSX today
