TSX Ends Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended sharply lower on Friday as stocks fell on sustained selling pressure, after Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said the bank is unlikely to cut interest rate anytime before the second half of 2024.

Macklem said in a speech that the central bank's policymakers will consider cutting interest rates when inflation is "clearly" on a path to the 2% target, but added that it's still "too early."

Meanwhile, hopes for near-term interest rate cuts in the U.S. faded a bit after New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said the Fed is not "really talking about rate cuts right now" and is focused on whether monetary policy is sufficiently restrictive to ensure inflation comes back down to 2%.

Selling in the Canadian market was so widespread that all the sectoral indexes ended in negative territory. Communications, energy, real estate and consumer discretionary shares were among the major losers. Utilties, materials and industrials stocks also ended notably lower.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended lower by 249.65 points or 1.2% at 20,529.15, about 30 points off the session's low. For the week, the index gained nearly 1%.

Canadian Apartment Properties (CAR.UN.TO), Cogeco Communications (CCA.TO), Molson Coors Canada Inc (TPX.B.TO), goeasy (GSY.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) and Magna International (MG.TO) ended lower by 3.5 to 5.5%.

Dollarama Inc (DOL.TO), West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO), Cargojet (CJT.TO), WSP Global (WSP.TO), George Weston (WN.TO) and Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) settled lower by 1.5 to 3%.

Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO) soared 8.7%. CCL Industries (CCL.A.TO) climbed 4.2% and Gildan Activewear (GIL.TO) gained 4%.

Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) advanced nearly 4%. Richelieu Hardware (RCH.TO) and Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO) ended higher by 2.2% and 1.9%, respectively.

On the economic front, data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed housing starts in Canada slipped by 22% over a month earlier to 212,624 units in November, the lowest reading in six months.

Data from Statistics Canada showed wholesale sales in Canada declined 0.5% from a month earlier in October, following a revised 0.6% drop in the previous month.