After climbing for three consecutive sessions, Canadian stocks turned negative on Wednesday as volatile commodity prices, mixed earnings results, and significantly hotter-than-expected U.S. wholesale inflation data for April took a toll on investor sentiment. The S&P/TSX Composite Index plunged by 249 points, or 0.7%, to settle at 34,041 — marking its steepest decline in the week and erasing all of its week-to-date gains.
Nearly all key sectors ended the session in the red, with consumer cyclical, technology, and financial stocks leading the broader market selloff.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Boyd Group Services (TSX:BYD) fell 12% to $134.54 per share, making it the worst-performing TSX stock for the day. This decline in BYD stock came after the Winnipeg-based company reported a wider quarterly net loss of US$7.9 million despite posting record first-quarter sales and adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization).
Investors also appeared concerned about the significant acquisition and transformational costs tied to Boyd’s Joe Hudson acquisition and Project 360 initiatives, which continued to weigh on its bottom-line profitability. On a year-to-date basis, BYD stock is now down 39%.
WSP Global, Stantec, and AtkinsRéalis Group were also among the day’s bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with each falling by at least 6.9%.
On the brighter side, shares of Finning International (TSX:FTT) jumped 8.7% to $104.97 per share after the company posted record first-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.02 per share, up 7% from a year ago. Investors also cheered its 6% growth in its product support revenue, record equipment backlog of $3.8 billion, and a 7.4% hike in its quarterly dividend.
AbraSilver Resource, Capstone Copper, and NGEx Minerals also climbed by 4.8% each, making them among the session’s top-performing TSX stocks.
Based on their daily trade volume, Enbridge, Telus, Cenovus Energy, Capstone Copper, and Equinox Gold were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices across the board were mixed in early trading on Thursday, pointing to a flat open for the resource-heavy main TSX index today.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors may want to keep an eye on the U.S. retail sales data this morning.
More importantly, U.S. president Donald Trump’s ongoing summit with Chinese president Xi Jinping in Beijing will remain in focus after reports suggested both leaders agreed that the Strait of Hormuz should remain a free waterway and that Iran should not be able to impose payments on shipping traffic through the route.
For TSX investors, any signs of easing tensions around the key oil shipping lane could drive crude prices and volatility in major Canadian energy stocks in the near term.
On the corporate events front, several TSX-listed companies, including H&R REIT, Americas Gold and Silver, Keyera, AtkinsRéalis Group, Quebecor, Discovery Silver, Aya Gold & Silver, Boralex, Brookfield, and Canadian Tire, will announce their latest quarterly results today, which could keep their shares in focus throughout the day.
Market movers on the TSX today
