Canadian Market Down In Negative Territory

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is down in negative territory Thursday afternoon, weighed down by losses in real estate, communications, materials and utilities sectors.

Healthcare stocks are finding support, while shares from other sectors are turning in a mixed performance.

Investors are largely reacting to quarterly earnings news from Canadian companies.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 144.09 points or 0.7% at 20,417.55.

Aecon Group Inc. (ARE.TO) shares are plunging more than 16%. Colliers International (CIGI.TO) is down 7.4%. West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), Molson Coors Canada (TPX.B.TO) and Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) are down 2 to 3%.

TFI International (TFII.TO), Waste Connections (WCN.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) and Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO) are also notably lower.

Ag Growth International (AFN.TO) rallied 2.6%. Teck Resources (TECK.A.TO) and Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) are down 2.4% and 2%, respectively.

Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) is gaining more than 3% after the company reported second-quarter net earnings of $866 million, compared with $636 million in the previous quarter.

Canadian Utilities Ltd. (CU.TO) reported adjusted net earnings of $100 million, or $0.37 per share for the second quarter, compared to $136 million, or $0.51 per share, in the second quarter of the previous year. The stock is down 1.5%.

FirstService Corporation (FSV.TO) is down more than 1% despite a surge in quarterly earnings. The company reported consolidated revenues of $1.12 billion for the second quarter, up 20% compared to consolidated revenues in the year-ago quarter.

ATCO Ltd. (ACO.TO) is down 2.5%. The company yposted adjusted net earnings of $87 million ($0.77 per share) in the second quarter, $5 million ($0.04 per share) lower compared to $92 million ($0.81 per share) in the second quarter of 2022.

On the economic front, a report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said Canada's CFIB Business Barometer long-term optimism index edged higher by 0.2 points from the previous month to 54.2 in July.