The main stock index of Canada faced south right from the opening of the market on Tuesday, bogged down by the shadow of a possibility of a global recession, which has impacted the commodities badly.
During early morning trading, the S&P/TSX composite index had lost over one per cent in value.
The index stood at 18,710.74 with a loss of 1.7 per cent in the morning, weighed down by energy stocks which plummeted by 5.8 per cent, following global losses in crude oil prices.
Following the energy sector on the losers’ table was the materials sector, which comprises precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, which fell by 4.4 per cent as gold and copper experienced a drop in prices.
On the positive note, the tech and healthcare sectors rose during the morning trading.
By 1.25 pm ET, the index had plunged further down with a drop of 2.50 per cent to 18,554.75. Three energy stocks experienced the highest losses. Athabasca Oil Corp. lost 14.94 per cent, Baytex Energy Stock. lost 13.57 per cent, while Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd. lost 13.35 per cent,
Leading the chart of top performers were Shopify Inc. with 7.06 per cent gain, Bausch Health Cos. Inc. with 5.41 per cent, and Descartes Systems Group Inc. with 4.77 per cent.
However, by 2.00 pm ET, the index began to show some signs of recovery, rising to 18,635.92 by 2.27 pm ET, which reduced the loss to 2.06 per cent.
In the last five days of trading, the Canadian stock market has lost 3.51 per cent. In the past month, it has lost 11.37 per cent. And in the past year, it has lost 8.63 per cent, which does not paint a good picture of the stock market’s performance in recent years. However, this is not peculiar to Canada, as it is a global disorder caused by soaring inflation, aggressive interest rate hikes by central banks, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict that befell a world that was recovering from a pandemic.
On the currency angle, the Canadian dollar was selling at 0.7665 US dollar, with a loss of C$0.0106 or 1.3628 per cent.
Crude oil was down 8.55 per cent, selling at US$99.16 per barrel, with a drop of $9.27, as at 3.01 pm ET.
By 3.00 pm ET, all the twenty items on the list of commodities – with the exception of Lean Hogs Futures – were in red, showing that it was not a good day for the commodities.
Market movers
As the ding-dong in the economy and the stock market continues, our investor community seems to have adopted a diversified interest ranging from basic metals to oil and gas and consumer sectors.
Nevada Copper (NCU) agreed to non-binding terms for a loan of up to US$70M in a deal involving counter-parties like its senior lender, KfW IPEX-Bank, and its largest shareholder, Pala Investments Limited.
Vermilion Energy (VET) announced a normal course issuer bid (NCIB) in which Vermilion may purchase up to 16,076,666 common shares.
Finally, good natured Products (GDNP) acquired Houston-based FormTex Plastics Corporation for US$4.8 million.
Capital raises so far for this week include FireFox Gold, Starcore, Plant&Co, Nevada Copper, Infinitum Copper, Blue Thunder Mining, Aether Catalyst Solutions, and UGE International.
Keep a date with us on the next summary of the market.
