Canadian Stocks Tumble As Mid East War Fuels Growth Concerns

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are down sharply in negative territory Thursday morning, and the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index has dropped to a near 3-week low, amid concerns about growth due to the potential impact of the ongoing Middle East War.

Materials, healthcare and industrials stocks are among the notable losers. Several stocks from financials and utilities sectors are also showing weakness. Technology stocks are gaining ground and help limit market's downside.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 447.11 points or 1.32% at 33,495.75 about a quarter before noon.

The Materials Capped Index is down more than 4%. Capstone Mining, Ero Copper and First Quantum Minerals are down 9%, 8% and 7.4%, respectively. First Majestic Silver Corp, Perpetua Resources, Ssr Mining, Taseko Mines, Endeavour Silver Corp., Orla Mining and Centerra Gold are down 6%-7%.

Endeavour Mining is down 4.8%. The company reported fourth quarter net income to shareholders of $68 million compared to a loss of $119 million, prior year. Net income per share was $0.28 compared to a loss of $0.49.

Industrials shares Mda Ltd., Bombardier, Finning International, Cae and Ats Corp. are down 2%-6%.

TecSys, up nearly 11%, is the biggest gainer in the tech sector. Kinaxis is rising 5.5% and Descartes Systems Group is up 4.3%. Sylogist, Constellation Software, Docebo, CGI Group and Blackline Safety Corp are up 2%-4%.

Maple Leaf Foods is rising nearly 7%. The company reported fourth quarter earnings of C$391 million or C$3.14 earnings per basic share compared to C$54 million or C$0.43 earnings per basic share, last year.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd is up 1.7% after reporting fourth-quarter earnings of C$5.30 billion or C$2.54 per share, up from C$1.14 billion or C$0.54 per share of last year. The company reported a gain of C$4.98 billion on acquisitions, disposition, and remeasurement income this quarter which was absent for the same period prior year.