TSX Tumbles 1.23% As Materials Stocks Slide On Metal Price Weakness

(RTTNews) - Canadian equity benchmark S&P Composite Index tumbled on Wednesday due to heavy selling in the materials sector and weakness exhibited by several stocks from financials, utilities and consumer sectors.

The mood in the market has turned bearish as a solution to the Middle East conflict remains elusive despite the much hyped "progress" in diplomatic efforts. Higher Treasury yields weighed as well on stocks.

Oil's recovery after five successive days of losses triggered some buying in the energy sector. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures climbed to $92.89 a barrel, gaining 2.3%, after having tumbled to $88.71 a barrel earlier in the day. Oil prices recovered amid uncertainty about the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 447.55 points or 1.23% at 35,888.06 a few minutes past noon.

The Materials Capped Index tumbled 3.7% as gold and silver prices have declined sharply. Gold futures and silver futures were down 1.3% and 2.3%, respectively, a little while ago.

Endeavour Silver Corp tanked 12%. Americas Gold & Silver Corp., Novagold, Avino Silver, Aya Gold & Silver, Silvercorp Metals, Perpetua Resources, Equinox Gold, Skeena Resources, Pan American Silver Corp., Wheaton Precious Metals, Iamgold and Agnico Eagle Mines drifted lower by 4%-8%.

In the financials space, Sprott dropped 4.3%, while Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Intact Financial Corporation, Toronto-Dominion Bank, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal were down 1%-1.6%.

Algonquin Power, Hydro One, Emera Inc. and Fortis were among the notable losers in the Utilities Index.

In the consumer discretionary sector, Aritzia, Gildan Activewear and Dollarama were down 2.5%, 2% and 1%, respectively.

Energy stocks Spartan Delta Corp., and Enerflex rose 4.7% and 3.6%, respectively. Tourmaline Oil Corp., Kelt Exploration, Suncor Energy, Vermilion Energy, Whitecap Resources, Parex Resources, International Petroleum Corporation and Peyto Exploration gained 1%-3%.