Canadian equities remained largely flat for a second consecutive session on Wednesday despite a bounce back in crude oil prices as dismal U.S. new home sales data reignited concerns about the slowing economy and weak consumer demand. The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended the volatile session with a minor gain of five points to close at 21,794.
On the one hand, mining, healthcare, and industrial stocks witnessed healthy gains. On the other hand, intraday losses in other sectors, like real estate and utilities, restricted the TSX benchmark’s upward movement.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
First Quantum Minerals, Brookfield Business Partners, Energy Fuels, and Air Canada were the top-performing TSX stocks yesterday as they climbed by at least 5.3% each.
In contrast, Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX:ATD) dived by 3% to $77.12 per share, making it among the worst-performing TSX stocks for the day. This decline in Couche-Tard stock came a day after the Laval-based company announced its worse-than-expected quarterly financial results.
In the April 2024 quarter, Couche-Tard’s total merchandise and service revenues slipped by 1.7% from a year ago to US$4.1 billion due partly to the weak consumer spending environment. Lower fuel margins in the U.S. also drove the company’s adjusted quarterly earnings down by 32.4% year over year to US$0.48 per share, missing Street analysts’ expectations. After the recent selloff, Couche-Tard stock now trades with a 1.2% year-to-date loss.
NovaGold Resources and Spin Master were also among the bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, falling by at least 2.7% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, TC Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, Telus, Power Corporation of Canada, and Manulife Financial were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices across the board were trading on a bullish note early Thursday morning, pointing to a slightly higher opening for the resource-heavy main TSX index today.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors will closely monitor the first-quarter growth figures of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) this morning, which could give further direction to stocks.
BlackBerry and NovaGold Resources, two TSX-listed stocks, could remain volatile in today’s session after announcing their quarterly results after the market closing bell on Wednesday.
Market movers on the TSX today
