Canadian stocks retreated from record closing levels on Friday as investors continued to speculate about the timing for upcoming interest rate cuts. The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped by 103 points, or 0.5%, during the session to settle at 21,984 but still managed to end the sixth consecutive week in the green territory.
Even as shares of cannabis companies soared, weakness in most other sectors, including tech, real estate, and consumer cyclicals, weighed on the TSX benchmark.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Osisko Mining, Power Corporation of Canada, Birchcliff Energy, and InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust were the worst-performing TSX stocks as they plunged by at least 3.6% each.
On the flip side, shares of Tilray Brands (TSX: TLRY) zoomed up by nearly 20% to $3.15 per share as the news about the legalization of cannabis in Germany cheered investors.
According to a Reuters report, in a significant shift in drug policy, Germany passed a law that makes the cultivation of “up to three plants for private consumption and owning up to 25 grams of cannabis” legal in the country. This move aims to control quality, protect consumers against contaminated products, and dismantle the black market. On a year-to-date basis, TLRY stock is not up around 3%.
MDA and Brookfield Renewable Partners also climbed up by at least 2.2% each, making them among the day’s top performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Based on their daily trade volume data, Power Corporation of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Suncor Energy, TC Energy, and Tilray were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
After witnessing big declines in the previous couple of sessions, commodity prices across the board were trading on a firm note early Monday morning, pointing to a slightly higher open for the resource-heavy main TSX index today.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors may want to keep an eye on the latest new home sales data from the United States this morning. Overall, the TSX benchmark seems on track to post the fifth consecutive winning month, as it has already risen 2.9% so far in March.
Market movers on the TSX today
