Despite easing geopolitical tensions with encouraging signs from the U.S.-Iran talks, Canadian equities continued to slide for a second consecutive session on Wednesday as falling commodity prices and broad-based profit-taking weighed on investor sentiment. The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped by 191 points, or 0.5%, to settle at 34,736 — erasing all its month-to-date gains to turn negative for June.
Even though most key market sectors, including technology, consumer cyclicals, and real estate, showed strength, heavy intraday losses in mining and energy stocks dragged the TSX benchmark lower.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
NovaGold Resources (TSX: NG) plunged by 14.4% to $8.80 per share, making it the worst-performing TSX stock for the day. This selloff in NG stock came after the precious metals-focused firm posted a wider loss of US$25.5 million, or US$0.06 per share, for the May quarter as its spending increased to advance the Donlin Gold project’s updated bankable feasibility study.
While NovaGold highlighted strong engineering progress and a robust cash position of US$370.2 million, it also noted that development costs are expected to remain elevated and that it will likely need to raise additional capital to support future activities beyond the feasibility study. On a year-to-date basis, NG stock is now down 31%.
Similarly, shares of Hudbay Minerals (TSX: HBM) dived by 9.4% following the completion of its acquisition of Arizona Sonoran Copper Company and a US$52 million municipal bond offering to help fund its Copper World project in Arizona.
While the deals are expected to strengthen Hudbay’s long-term copper growth pipeline and create one of North America’s largest copper districts, investors reacted cautiously to the company’s increased capital commitments and the challenges of developing several major projects at the same time.
Seabridge Gold and Vizsla Silver were also among the day’s bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with each falling by at least 7.5%.
On the brighter side, Shopify, Boyd Group Services, goeasy, and Waste Connections climbed by at least 4.6% each, making them the session’s top-performing TSX stocks.
Based on their daily trade volume, Canadian Natural Resources, Telus, Whitecap Resources, Suncor Energy, and B2Gold were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
After settling below US$70 per barrel for the first time since the end of March, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures prices continued to slip in early morning trading on Thursday, which could pressure TSX energy stocks at the open today. At the same time, gold and silver prices also declined in early trading, pointing to another potentially weak start for the mining sector.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors may want to keep an eye on the latest personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index and quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) figures from the U.S. this morning. These closely watched economic indicators could provide fresh clues about the strength of the U.S. economy, influencing investor sentiment across North American equity markets.
On the corporate events side, the TSX-listed tech firm BlackBerry is expected to announce its latest quarterly results today.
Market movers on the TSX today
