Canadian Stocks Drifting Lower On Recession Worries

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares are notably lower around noon on Friday, with rising concerns about a global recession triggering heavy selling in several sectors.

The World Bank's latest report that warns of a global recession is weighing on sentiment. The World Bank has warned that the world could face a recession next year amid simultaneous tightening of monetary policy by central banks.

World Bank economists warned that the actions may not be enough to bring high prices under control, leading to a need for more interest rate hikes, which in turn will put the brakes on growth.

The World Bank called for boosting production and removing supply bottlenecks to ease inflation.

Several indicators of global recessions are already "flashing signs", the report said. The global economy is now in its steepest slowdown following a post-recession recovery since 1970, it added.

Healthcare, technology, industrials and energy stocks are among the major losers. Stocks from the financial sector are also notably lower.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which dropped to 19,295.22, is down 209.91 points or 1.09% at 19,350.25 at noon.

The Health Care Capped Index is down 2.8%. Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) is down nearly 6%, Cronos Group (CRON.TO) is down 4.7%, Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) is declining 4.6%, Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) is lower by about 4% and Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) is drifting down 3.1%.

The Information Technology Capped Index is down 2.5%. Hut 8 Mining (HUT.TO), down 6.5%, is the biggest loser in the index. Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO) and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) are down 5.5% and 5.2%, respectively.

Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO), Descartes Systems (DSG.TO), BlackBerry (BB.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO) and Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) are down 3 to 4%.

Dye & Durham (DND.TO) is declining 3.4%. The company anticipates its fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA to be approximately C$75 million, higher than C$49.1 million recorded for the same period of 2021. For the final quarter, the company expects its revenue to be around C$129 million against C$84.4 million a year ago.

Cargojet (CJT.TO), down 7.4%, is the biggest loser in the industrials section. Mullen Group (MTL.TO) is down 6% and Tfi International (TFII.TO) is down 5.5%. Nfi Group (NFI.TO), Gfl Environmental (GFL.TO), Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO), Air Canada (AC.TO) and Canadian Pacific Railway are declining 3 to 4.2%.

Energy stock Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) is declining 5.6%. Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO) and Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO) are down 2 to 3.4%.

Transcontinental Inc. (TCL.B.TO), Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO), Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) and Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) are gaining 1.5 to 2.3%.

On the economic front, data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed housing starts in Canada decreased by 3% over a month earlier to 267,443 units in August of 2022.

Data from Statistics Canada showed wholesale sales in Canada fell 0.6% month-over-month in July of 2022, as expected, following two consecutive months of record-high sales.