Canadian Stocks Mixed As Investors React To Earnings

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are turning in a mixed performance on Thursday as investors react to a slew of corporate earnings announcements in addition to digesting the crucial U.S. PCE data.

Energy and materials stocks are showing weakness, weighed down by lower commodity prices. Technology stocks are down, tracking tech weakness on Wall Street.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which climbed to 26,342.99 earlier in the session, was down 49.78 points or 0.14% at 36,215.31 nearly half an hour past noon.

The Materials Capped Index is down more than 2%. Alamos Gold, Kinross Gold and Southern Cross Gold are down 8.2%, 6% and 5.6%, respectively.

Eldorado Gold's EPS for the third-quarter came in at $0.49, up from $0.41 a year ago. Still, the stock is down in negative territory, losing about 4%.

First Quantum Minerals, Wesdome Gold Mines, Ero Copper, Iamgold Corp., Agnico Eagle Mines, Equinox Gold Crp. and Lundin Gold are down 2.5%-4%.

Teck Resources is up by about 1%. The company has reported third-quarter earnings per share of $1.88, compared with $0.76 in the year-ago quarter.

Energy stocks Whitecap Resources is down 3.4%. Whitecap Resources reported an EPS of $0.27 for the third-quarter, compared to $0.17 in the year-ago quarter.

Parex Resources, Baytex Energy, Headwater Exploration, Cenovus Energy, Vermilion Energy and Imperial Oil are down 1.4%-3%.

Tech stock Celestica is declining nearly 4%, after having moved up sharply in recent sessions. Docebo, Descartes Systems Group, Open Text Corporation, Kinaxis, Enghouse Systems and Shopify are down 1%-2%.

The Healthcare Capped Index is up more than 6%. Bausch Health Companies is soaring nearly 25%. Bausch Health Companies reported earnings per share of $1.77 for the third quarter, compared with $1.16 a year ago.

Curaleaf Holdings and Extendicare are gaining 2.5% and 2.3%, respectively. Chartwell Retirement Residences and Sienna Senior Living are up with modest gains.

Ritchie Bros Auctioneers, Canada Goose holdings, Brookfield, Aecon, Colliers International Group, Aritzia, Magna International, Maple Leaf Foods and CAE are among the notable gainers from other sectors.

Restaurant Brands International is down more than 3% despite the company's earnings per share for the third quarter coming in at $1.54, up from $1.44 a year ago.

AltaGas reported earnings per share of $0.29 for the third quarter, compared with EPS of 0.04 last year. The stock is down marginally.

In economic news, data from Statistics Canada showed wages in Canada increased 3.7% in August over the same month in the previous year.

A report from the Commerce Department said its personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index climbed by 0.5% in September after rising by 0.3 in August. The report also said the annual rate of growth by the PCE price index accelerated to 3.6% in September from 3.4% in August.

The annual rate of growth by the core PCE price index ticked up to 3.1% in September from 3% in August.