TSX Ends Marginally Down

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market recovered gradually after early weakness on Wednesday, and even managed a brief spell in positive territory around mid afternoon before turning a bit subdued again to eventually close marginally down.

The mood was once again quite cautious with investors looking ahead to the inflation data out of the U.S., for clues about the Federal Reserve's interest rate move.

The Fed minutes, released this afternoon, showed the officials expect higher rates to stay in place until prices come down.

The policymakers felt it would be important to calibrate the pace of further policy tightening with the aim of mitigating the risk of significant adverse effects on the economic outlook," the minutes said.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 10.40 points or 0.06% at 18,206.28, after scaling a low of 18,111.57 and a high of 18,273.64 intraday.

Shares from utilities and communications sections posted sharp losses. Healthcare stocks moved up sharply. Consumer staples, real estate and materials shares also gained significant ground in positive territory, while financials, energy and technology stocks closed mixed.

Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO) rallied 6.5%. CargoJet (CJT.TO) surged nearly 5%. Goeasy (GSY.TO), Cogeco Inc (CGO.TO), MTY Food Group (MTY.TO), Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO), Premium Brands Holding Corporation (PBH.TO), George Weston (WN.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), Colliers International (CIGI.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) and TFI International (TFII.TO) gained 1 to 3.4%.

Cameco Corporation (CCO.TO) shares plunged 13.4%. Cameco Corporation and Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEPC.TO), agreed to acquire Westinghouse Electric Company, nuclear services businesses, for the total enterprise value of $7.875 billion. Brookfield Renewable, with its institutional partners, will own a 51% interest in Westinghouse and Cameco will own 49%.

Rogers Communications (RCI.A.TO) ended 4% down, and Boralex (BLX.TO) ended lower by about 3.4%. Fortis Inc (FTS.TO), Linamar Corporation (LNR.TO) and Waste Connections (WCN.TO) also declined sharply.