The Canadian equities market continued to decline from its historical highs for the fifth consecutive session on Tuesday as investors kept a close eye on the latest updates related to the ongoing geopolitical conflicts in West Asia. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 97 points, or 0.4%, yesterday to settle at 21,643 — roughly 3.2% lower from its all-time highs posted last week.
Despite a notable intraday recovery in healthcare and tech stocks, heavy losses in other key market sectors like utilities and financials weighed on the TSX benchmark. Also, most commodity prices, except gold, trended downward, pressuring commodity-linked stocks.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
First Majestic Silver, Barrick Gold, Boralex, and NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT were the worst-performing TSX stocks yesterday as they dived by at least 3.2% each.
Shares of Ballard Power Systems (TSX:BLDP) also slipped 1.8% to $3.78 per share, making it among the day’s bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange. While there was no notable negative news related to the company, the latest decline in BLDP stock could be attributed to the broader market.
On the positive side, the Burnaby-headquartered fuel cell firm announced receiving orders for 70 FCmove – HD hydrogen fuel cell engines from Wrightbus, to be delivered in 2024 for use in buses across the U.K. and Germany. Ballard’s fuel cell engines will power both single and double-decker buses, offering benefits such as long-range and fast refuelling capabilities. On a year-to-date basis, BLDP stock is now down 23%.
In contrast, Descartes Systems, K92 Mining, First Quantum Minerals, and Capstone Copper were the top-performing TSX stocks for the day, inching up by at least 3.6% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, TD Bank, Enbridge, Cenovus Energy, TC Energy, and Barrick Gold were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices were largely bearish early Wednesday morning, pointing to a slightly lower opening for the resource-heavy main TSX index today.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, energy investors may want to keep an eye on the latest crude oil stockpile data from the United States this morning. Overall, most TSX stocks remain volatile as investors await Israel’s response to Iran’s weakened attack.
Market movers on the TSX today
