Canadian Market Modestly Down As Stocks Drift Lower On Profit Taking

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is down in negative territory around noon on Tuesday, weighed down by losses in energy, healthcare and financials shares.

After six successive days of gains, the mood in the market is a bit cautious and investors and several stocks are down on profit taking.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 61 points or 0.3% at 20,217.28 a few minutes past noon.

The Energy Capped Index is down by about 1.4%. Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), Advantage Oil & Gas (AAV.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Nuvista Energy (NVA.TO) and Topaz Energy Corp (TPZ.TO) are down 2 to 4%.

In the healthcare sector, Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) is down 2.6%, Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) is down 2.1% and Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) is lower by about 1.4%.

Among financials, Goeasy Ltd. (GSY.TO), Onex Corp (ONEX.TO), Laurentian Bank (LB.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) are down 1 to 3%.

Materials stocks Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.TO), Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO) and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) are up 5.3 to 6%. MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), First Majestic Silver (FR.TO), Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO), Fortuna Silver Mines (FVI.TO), Oceanagold (OGC.TO), Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS.TO) and Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO) are up 3 to 5%.

Telus Corp (T.TO) and BCE Inc (BCE.TO), gaining about 1.5% each, are the major gainers in the communications space.

Among technology stocks, Descartes Systems (DSG.TO), Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO) and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) are gaining 1 to 1.75%.

On the economic front, data released by Statistics Canada showed the total value of building permits in Canada advanced 8.6% from a month earlier to $10.7 billion in February 2023, after a downwardly revised 3.7% slump in the prior month.