Despite a sharp intraday rally in oil and gas prices, the Canadian equities market started the new week on a mixed note as investors looked forward to the U.S. presidential election and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision set to be announced later in the week. The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended the volatile session at 24,256 without any notable change from its previous closing.
Although some sectors like real estate, consumer cyclicals, and energy witnessed handsome gains, big losses in healthcare and technology stocks pressured the TSX benchmark.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Tilray Brands, Nutrien, Baytex Energy, and MEG Energy were the top-performing TSX stocks yesterday, with each climbing by at least 4.4%.
Shares of StorageVault Canada (TSX: SVI) also inched up by 4.1% to $4.33 per share, making it among the top performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange. This rally in SVI stock came after the Canadian storage firm announced the acquisition of two storage facilities in Barrie and North Bay, Ontario, for a combined purchase price of $10.5 million.
On the flip side, BCE (TSX: BCE) was the worst-performing TSX Composite component for the day as it dived by 9.7% to $40.47 per share. This selloff started after BCE revealed its intentions to acquire the American Internet services provider Ziply Fiber in a deal worth around $7 billion, including nearly $5 billion in cash and $2 billion in assumed debt.
While this acquisition is likely to expand BCE’s fibre presence in the U.S. market, investors apparently expressed concerns over the high price tag of the deal, leading to a steep drop in BCE’s stock price. After this selloff, BCE stock is down 12.4% year to date.
Bausch Health, Fairfax Financial, and Ero Copper were also among the bottom performers on the TSX as they slipped by at least 3.8% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, Enbridge, BCE, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Baytex Energy, and Manulife Financial stood out as the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices across the board were mixed early Tuesday morning, pointing to a flat opening for the resource-heavy TSX index today.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors will keep a close eye on the latest non-manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers index) and services PMI data from the United States this morning. In addition, key updates related to the U.S. presidential election could add to market volatility.
As corporate earnings season in Canada also remains in full swing, several major TSX-listed companies, including MEG Energy, Labrador Iron Ore Royalty, iA Financial, Dream Industrial REIT, Kinross Gold, Pembina Pipeline, Boardwalk REIT, TransAlta, Thomson Reuters, Colliers International, Boyd Group, Fortis, Restaurant Brands, Pet Valu, and International Petroleum, are likely to announce their latest quarterly results today.
Market movers on the TSX today
