Canadian Market Down Firmly In Negative Territory At Noon

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are down firmly in negative territory a little past noon on Tuesday, weighed down by data showing less than expected growth of the nation's economy in February.

Investors are looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement, due on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rate unchanged. The focus will be on the accompanying statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference. Investors now expect the Fed to announce a rate cut in September.

Materials and energy stocks are down sharply, hurt by falling bullion and oil prices. Industrials, technology and consumer staples stocks are among the other notable losers. A few stocks from consumer discretionary sector are up with impressive gains.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 182.99 points or 0.84% at 21,828.63 a few minutes past noon.

The Materials Capped Index is down 2.1%. Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO), Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO), Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO), K92 Mining Inc (KNT.TO), Seabridge Gold (SEA.TO), Wesdome Gold Mines (WDO.TO), Methanex Corp (MX.TO) and Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) are down 2.7 to 4%.

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (IVN.TO) reported adjusted EBITDA of $126 million for the first-quarter of 2024, compared with $172 million for the same period in 2023.

Cameco Corporation (CCO.TO) reported first-quarter net loss of $7 million, or $0.02 per share, as against net profit of $119 million, or $0.27 per share in the first-quarter of the previous year.

The Energy Capped Index is down 1.4%. Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), International Petroleum (IPCO.TO), Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO), Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO), Africa Oil Corp (AOI.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO) and MEG Energy (MEG.TO) are down 2 to 3.1%.

Bitfarms (BITF.TO), down 7%, is the biggest loser in the technology space. Coveo Solutions (CVO.TO), Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO), Tecsys Inc (TCS.TO) and Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO) are down 2.3 to 4.5%.

Industrials stocks Snc-Lavalin Group (ATRL.TO), TFI International (TFII.TO), Ballard Power Systems (BLDP.TO) and Badger Infrastructure Solutions (BDGI.TO) are declining 2 to 2.7%.

Among the gainers, Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) is gaining nearly 4%. The company reported adjusted profit of US$ 331 million, or US$ 0.73 per share for the first quarter of this year, compared with adjusted profit of US$ 340 million, or US$ 0.75 per share, last year.

Cargojet (CJT.TO) is rising 4.5%, extending gains from the previous session. Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO) is up 3.5%. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) and Cairvest Group (CVG.TO) are up 2.3% and 2%, respectively.

Data from Statistics Canada showed the nation's economy grew by 0.2% in February, less than the preliminary estimate of 0.4%. According to preliminary estimate, the Canadian economy is expected to have remain unchanged in March 2024.