Canadian Market Down In Negative Territory As Middle East Tensions Weigh

(RTTNews) - After opening marginally down, the Canadian market slipped a bit deeper into the red Tuesday morning, weighed down by losses in materials, technology, healthcare and consumer discretionary sectors.

Energy stocks are up thanks to higher oil prices. Consumer staples and communications stocks are among the other notable gainers.

Worries about Middle East conflict amid a lack of progress in peace talks weigh on sentiment.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that the U.S.-Iran ceasefire is on "life support" amid the ongoing dispute, describing the state of the truce "unbelievably weak."

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which dropped to 33,907.32, was down 137.43 points or 0.4% at 34,001.45 a few minutes before noon.

The Materials Capped Index is down 3.1%. Abrasilver Resource Corp, down 9.5%, is the biggest loser in the index. Lithium Americas Corp, Fortuna Mining, Seabridge Gold, Endeavour Silver Corp., Orla Mining, Equinox Gold, Barrick Mining Corporation, Novagold and First Majestic Silver Corp are down 5%-6.5%.

The Information Technology Capped Index is down more than 2%. Docebo is declining by about 6.5%. Celestica is down 4.7% and Firan Technology Group is down 4%, while CGI Inc., Computer Modelling, Lightspeed Commerce, Open Text Corporation and BlackBerry are lower by 1.7%-2.5%.

Healthcare stocks Curaleaf Holdings and Sienna Senior Living are down 3.3% and 1.6%, respectively.

Consumer discretionary stock Pet Valu Holdings is down 14%. Brp Inc, Magna Internaional, Linamar Corp and Gildan Activewear are down 1.7%-2.2%.

Energy stocks Paramount Resources, International Petroleum Corporation and Canadian Natural Gas are up 3.5%, 2.5% and 2.3%, respectively. PrairieSky Royalty, Imperial Oil, Cenovus Energy, Vermilion Energy, Baytex Energy and Suncor Energy are gaining 1.7%-2%.

George Weston is up nearly 3% despite reporting a drop in earnings per share in the first quarter. The company reported earnings per share of $0.91 for the first quarter ended March 2026, compared with $2.58 in the year-ago quarter. In the fourth quarter of the previous year, the company had posted earnings per share of $1.21.

Parex Resources is down more than 3% after reporting a sharp drop in EPS in the first quarter. The company reported earnings per share of $0.05 for the first quarter ended March 2026, compared with $0.82 in the year-ago quarter.

Trican Well Service reported earnings per share of $0.14 for the quarter ended March 2026, compared to $0.17 in the year ago quarter. The stock is up nearly 7.5%.