Canadian equities turned bearish on Thursday after the latest U.S. wholesale inflation data came out much hotter than expected, raising possibilities that the Federal Reserve will maintain restrictive monetary policy for an extended period. The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped by 140 points, or 0.6%, yesterday to settle at 21,830, giving up all the gains it saw in the previous two sessions.
Even as an intraday rally in crude oil and natural gas prices drove energy stocks slightly higher, heavy losses in most other main sectors, including healthcare, consumer, and mining, pressured the TSX benchmark.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Shares of Jamieson Wellness (TSX:JWEL) dived by nearly 12% to $26.05 per share, making it the worst-performing TSX stock for the day. This selloff in JWEL stock came a day after the Toronto-based company released its fourth-quarter earnings report. In the quarter ended in December, its total revenue jumped 14.3% year over year to $220.4 million with the help of the strong performance of Jamieson Brands.
Although Jamieson’s adjusted quarterly earnings rose 8.1% from a year ago to $0.67 per share, they missed Bay Street analysts’ expectations of $0.73 per share, hurting investors’ sentiments. JWEL stock now trades with about 18% year-to-date declines and offers a 2.6% annualized dividend yield.
Enghouse Systems, First Quantum Minerals, and BCE were also among the day’s bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange as they plunged by at least 4.4% each.
On the flip side, Lithium Americas, Transcontinental, Wesdome Gold Mines, and Tamarack Valley Energy inched up by at least 3.4% each, making them the session’s top-performing TSX stocks.
Based on their daily trade volume, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor Energy, Lundin Mining, TC Energy, and BCE stood out as the most heavily traded stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices, especially metals, were trading on a bullish note early Friday morning, which could lift TSX mining stocks at the open today. While no major economic releases are due, the TSX index seems on track to end the fifth consecutive week in the green territory as it has already risen 0.4% week to date.
On the corporate events side, Premium Brands will announce its fourth-quarter results on March 15. Street analysts expect the Canadian specialty food manufacturer to post adjusted quarterly earnings of $1.19 per share with $1.6 billion in revenue.
Market movers on the TSX today
