After rallying to fresh record highs for four consecutive sessions, the Canadian equities market turned negative on Wednesday as a negative reversal in metals prices and a steep selloff in the tech sector took a toll on investors’ sentiments. The S&P/TSX Composite Index witnessed 144 points, or 0.6%, value erosion to settle at 22,851 — ending its five-day winning streak.
As reports of escalating geopolitical tensions drove shares of U.S. chipmakers downward, TSX tech stocks also remained under pressure. Additionally, weakness in other sectors like mining and industrials also took the market index downward.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Celestica, Cameco, Energy Fuels, and Shopify tanked by at least 6.9% each, making them the day’s worst-performing TSX stocks.
On the positive side, Cogeco Communications was the top-performing TSX stock, climbing by 10% to $61.59 per share after Bank of America’s global research upgraded its rating on the Canadian media company from “underperform” to “buy.”
Shares of StorageVault Canada (TSX:SVI) also inched up by 3.8% to $4.86 per share, trimming its year-to-date losses to 7.1%. This rally in SVI stock came a day after the Scarborough, Ontario-based storage firm announced its intentions to acquire two properties in southern Ontario for $71.5 million, expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2024.
StorageVault plans to fund these deals through cash on hand and first mortgage financing. Including the latest deals, the company has announced $204.5 million in acquisitions so far in 2024 and will operate 250 locations across Canada upon completion.
Interfor, West Fraser Timber, and TransAlta were also among the day’s top performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange as they ticked up by at least 3.4% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, Enbridge, TD Bank, Canadian Natural Resources, TC Energy, and Royal Bank of Canada were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures prices were trading on a firm note early Thursday morning after yesterday’s lower-than-expected U.S. crude oil stockpiles data, which could lift TSX energy stocks at the open today.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors may want to keep a close eye on the latest monthly manufacturing and weekly jobless claims data from the United States this morning.
On the corporate events side, the TSX-listed Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust will announce its latest quarterly results after the market closing bell today. Bay Street analysts expect the company to post adjusted earnings of $0.26 per share for the June quarter with $350.2 million in revenue.
Market movers on the TSX today
