Energy, Materials Shares Dragging Down Canadian Market

(RTTNews) - After opening on a slightly positive note, the Canadian market retreated and slid sharply into the red Friday morning, weighed down by losses in energy and materials sectors on weak commodity prices.

Worries about slowing growth and higher interest rates hurt sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which climbed to 18,763.70 earlier in the session, is down 187.86 points or 1.01% at 18,425.77 a few minutes past noon.

The Materials Capped Index is down 3.25%. Wesdome Gold Mines (WDO.TO) is plunging more than 11% after the company said its gold production dropped by 22% in the third quarter due to shutdowns for maintenance works.

Silvercorp Metals Inc. (SVM.TO) is down more than 8%. The company announced that it produced approximately 1.8 million ounces of silver, 1,200 ounces of gold, 18.0 million pounds of lead and 6.0 million pounds of zinc, in the second quarter of the current financial year, representing increases of 6%, 50%, and 2%, respectively in silver, gold and lead, and a decrease of 20% in zinc compared to the second quarter ended September 30, 2021.

Nutrien (NTR.TO), Osisko Mining (OSK.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), Oceanagold Corp (OGC.TO), First Majestic Silver Corp (FR.TO), Endeavour Silver Corp (EDR.To), Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) and MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO) are down 4 to 6%.

The Energy Capped Index is down 2%. Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO) is down 8.6%. Parex Resources (PXT.TO) is declining nearly 7%. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO) and Arc Resources (ARX.TO) are down 2 to 4%.

Among other loser, Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO) is plunging 7.7%. Goeasy (GSY.TO), Waste Connections (WCN.TO), Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO) and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) shed 1.4 to 2%.

Transcontinental Inc. (TCL.B.TO), Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO), ATS Automation Tooling Systems (ATA.TO), Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (RBA.TO), Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) and Loblaw Companies (L.TO) are up with strong gains.

Data from Statistics Canada showed total manufacturing sales in Canada declined by 2% month-over-month in August 2022, above a preliminary reading of a 0.8% drop, following a revised 0.6% decline in July.

Wholesale sales in Canada rose by 1.4% from a month earlier in August of 2022 to reach a record high of C$ 81.3 billion, well above preliminary estimates of a 0.8% gain and compared to a 0.6% fall in the previous month.