TSX Slips To 1-month Low As Materials, Energy Stocks Fall

(RTTNews) - The Canadian benchmark S&P/TSX has tumbled to its lowest level in about a month Tuesday morning, as weak commodity prices trigger some heavy selling materials and energy stocks.

Meanwhile, investors await the Bank of Canada's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The central bank is widely expected to announce a quarter percentage point cut in interest rate.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 222.76 points or 1.01% at 21,893.93 about half an hour before noon.

The Materials Capped Index is down nearly 4% as metal prices are down sharply. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS.TO), New Gold Inc (NGD.TO), Capstone Mining (CS.TO), First Majestic Silver Corp (AG.TO), Ero Copper (ERO.TO), Ssr Mining (SSRM.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO) and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) are down 4.2 to 7%.

The Energy Capped Index is down 2.7%. Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Veren Inc (VRN.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO), Nuvista Energy (NV.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), International Petroleum Corp (IPCO.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO) and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) are lower by 3 to 4%.

Technology stocks Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) and Open Text Corp (OTEX.TO) are down 4.7% and 3%, respectively. Tecsys (TCS.TO) and Coveo Solutions (CVO.TO) are down 2.2% and 1.6%, respectively.

Park Lawn Corporation (PLC.TO) is soaring nearly 60%. The company announced on Monday that it has entered into an arrangement agreement with Viridian Acquisition Inc., an affiliate of Homesteaders Life Company and Birch Hill Equity Partners Management Inc., pursuant to which Viridian and Birch Hill will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Park Lawn for a price of $26.50 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.2 billion.