Canadian equities went sideways on Thursday as investors remained cautious ahead of the Bank of Canada’s monetary policy report and interest rate decision. The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended the volatile session with a minor seven-point decline at 24,717 – trimming its month-to-date gains, which still stood at an impressive 3%.
Although the recent record jump in gold and silver prices continued to drive mining stocks higher, most other key sectors, especially consumer cyclicals, utilities, and technology, fell sharply, pressuring the TSX Index.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Shares of goeasy (TSX: GSY) plunged by 9.4% to $165.39 per share after the Mississauga-headquartered nonprime lending company released preliminary third-quarter results. The report highlighted expected gross consumer loan portfolio growth of $235 million to $265 million but projected net charge-offs between 8.75% and 9.75%, raising concerns about rising credit risks.
This announcement, combined with goeasy’s $500 million in senior unsecured note offerings, apparently spooked investors, leading to the sharp sell-off. On a year-to-date basis, GSY stock now trades with 4.6% gains.
BRP, Toromont Industries, and Spin Master were also among the worst performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with each diving by at least 4% for the day.
On the flip side, Tilray Brands, Seabridge Gold, Sandstorm Gold, and SSR Mining climbed by at least 4.8% each, making them the session’s top-performing TSX stocks.
Based on their daily trade volume, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, Air Canada, TD Bank, and B2Gold were the most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Gold spot prices continued to reach new records Wednesday morning, while crude oil and copper prices were experiencing a slight pullback in early trading. Given these mixed signals, I expect the commodity-heavy main TSX index to remain flat at the open today.
Besides the U.S. existing home sales data, Canadian investors will closely watch the central bank’s rate decision, policy report, and press conference this morning, which will play an important role in shaping market sentiment for the rest of the week.
As the third quarter corporate earnings season gains steam, several TSX-listed companies, including Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Celestica, Whitecap Resources, Waste Connections, and West Fraser Timber, will announce their latest quarterly results after the market closing bell today.
Market movers on the TSX today
