Materials, Financials Drive TSX Higher; Tech Stocks Slide

(RTTNews) - After an early rise, the Canadian market slipped into negative territory Thursday morning before recovering to move above the flat line again, supported by gains in materials, financials and healthcare sectors.

Industrials, communications, technology, consumer staples and real estate stocks drifted lower on selling pressure.

Investors reacted to a slew of earnings announcements and continued to following geopolitical news.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which climbed to 35,526.42 and dropped to 35,217.39 subsequently, was up 61.11 points or 0.18% at 35,394.89 about half an hour past noon.

Healthcare stock Bausch Health Companies soared nearly 27% after reporting higher earnings and raising guidance. The company reported second-quarter revenue of $2.85 billion, compared with $2.53 in the year-ago quarter.

Curaleaf Holdings moved up 2.3%, while Chartwell Retirement Residences and Sienna Senior Living declined sharply.

In the financials sector, Igm Financial moved up 5.2%. Toronto-Dominion Bannk, Sprott, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, IA Financial Corporation, National Bank of Canada, Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal gained 1.3%-2%.

Among materials stocks, Teck Resources and Perpetua Resources moved up 6.5% and 6.1%, respectively. Skeena Resources, Americas Gold & Silver, Aya Gold & Silver, Abrasilver Resources Corp., Lithium Americas Corp., Ero Copper, Ivanhoe Mines and Discovery Mining gained 4%-5%.

Technology stock Lightspeed Commerce tanked nearly 14%. Docebo tanked 8%. Kinaxis, Descartes Systems Group, Constellation Software, Shopify, Coveo Solutions, Tecsys, Enghouse Systems, Open Text Corporation and CGI Inc. lost 2.5%-6%.

Industrials stock Bombardier shed 5%. Bombardier Inc. reported a slight decline in its second-quarter net income, despite revenue growth. Net income decreased to $191 million or $1.84 per share, from $193 million in the prior-year period.

Thomson Reuters and Tfi International lost 6.6% and 5.5%, respectively. Waste Connections, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Rb Global, Boyd Group Services, Canadian National Railway and WSP Global shed 2%-5%.

Materials stocks West Fraser Timber, Stella Jones, Alamos Gold, Nutrien, Lundin Gold, Ccl Industries and First Majestic Silver posted sharp to moderate losses.

Loblaw Companies Ltd.'s EPS fell to $0.66 in the second quarter, from $2.40 a year earlier. Loblaw shares climbed 1.6% despite lower earnings.

In economic news, data from Statistics Canada showed wages in Canada increased 3.4% in May over the same month in the previous year.