Canadian stocks declined for the third consecutive session on Tuesday as investors remained cautious ahead of the Bank of Canada’s last policy announcement of the year and the U.S. consumer inflation report, scheduled for Wednesday. The S&P/TSX Composite Index gave up another 121 points, or 0.5%, to settle at 25,504, its lowest closing level since November 28.
While nearly all key market sectors ended the session in negative territory, the TSX pullback was mainly led by heavy losses in healthcare, technology, and utility stocks.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Torex Gold Resources, Lundin Gold, Ero Copper, and BlackBerry were the worst-performing TSX stocks for the day, with each diving by at least 4.3%.
In contrast, shares of SSR Mining (TSX:SSRM) climbed by nearly 6% to $10.70 per share, making it the day’s top-performing TSX stock. This rally in SSRM stock came after the Denver-headquartered metals miner revealed intentions to acquire the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine in Colorado from Newmont for US$100 million upfront, with up to US$175 million in milestone-based payments.
SSR expects this acquisition to add 170,000 ounces of gold to its annual production and boost its U.S. output to 300,000 to 400,000 ounces annually, which will make it the third-largest gold producer in the country. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025. Despite the recent rally, SSRM stock is still down 25% on a year-to-date basis and offers a 3.8% annualized dividend yield.
Innergex Renewable Energy, Wesdome Gold Mines, and Sprott were also among the session’s top gainers on the Toronto Stock Exchange as they climbed by at least 2.3% each.
Based on their daily trade volume data, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor Energy, Enbridge, TC Energy, and Pembina Pipeline were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Crude oil and base metals prices were largely bullish early Wednesday morning, pointing to a slightly higher open for the commodity-heavy main TSX index today.
Besides the U.S. consumer inflation data for November, Canadian investors will closely monitor the Canadian central bank’s latest interest rate decision and press conference this morning, which could give further direction to stocks.
On the corporate events side, the TSX-listed Transcontinental will announce its October quarter financial results after the market closing bell on December 11. Bay Street analysts expect the packaging company to post earnings of $0.73 per share with $758.4 million in quality revenue.
Market movers on the TSX today
