Canadian Market Comes Off Early Lows, But Stays Weak; BoC Holds Rates Again

(RTTNews) - After opening notably lower and edging further down, the Canadian market recovered and moved closer to the unchanged line Wednesday morning thanks to gains in the energy sector and several stocks from financials and technology sectors finding support at lower levels.

In addition to following the reports from the Middle East front, investors also digested the Bank of Canada's widely expected interest rate decision.

The Canadian central bank said it decided to hold its target for the overnight rate at 2.25%, with the Bank Rate at 2.5% and the deposit rate at 2.20%.

In its accompanying statement, the BoC said the ongoing Middle East conflict and the resulting increases in energy prices and disruptions in global supply chains are weighing on global economic growth and pushing up inflation.

The BoC also noted U.S. President Donald Trump's administration continues to propose new tariffs and trade policy uncertainty remains elevated.

While the BoC said its Governing Council is continuing to look through the war's near-term impact on headline inflation, it stressed that it will not let higher energy prices become persistent inflation.

The Canadian benchmark index S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 37.73 points or 0.11% at 34,373.93 a little while ago. The index, which dropped to 34,178.90 earlier, climbed to 34,403.65 subsequently.

Energy stocks are gaining, riding on higher oil prices. Strathcona Resources, Tamarack Valley Energy, Headwater Exploration, Kelt Exploration, International Petroleum Corporation, Cenovus Energy, Athabasca Oil Corp, Terravest Industries, Vermilion Energy and Whitecap Resources are up 1.8%-3.2%.

BlackBerry, Aimia, Canfor, Tilray, Methanex, Western Forest Products, Alimentation Couche-Tard, Interfor and Cineplex are among the prominent gainers from other sectors.

Weak metal prices weighed on materials stocks. Seabridge Gold dropped 5.7% and Lundin Gold drifted down 4.2%. Discovery Silver Corp., Orla Mining, Equinox Gold, Kinross Gold, B2Gold Corp, Agnico Eagle Mines and SSR Mining shed 2%-3.1%.

Among notable losers from other sectors, Enghouse Systems drifted down 5%. TFI International, Cameco, Telus, BRP Inc., Ballard Power Systems, Mullen, Finning International, Nutrien, Cargojet, Shopify, Thomson Reuters and Gildan Activewear shed 1%-4%.

Property services firm FirstService Corp. (FSV, FSV.TO), announced on Wednesday that its Roofing Corp of America subsidiary has acquired Schefers Roofing, expanding its commercial roofing operations into the Kansas City market. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The stock was down by about 1.4%.