The Canadian market, which began the day with a slight downturn on Thursday morning, remains in negative ground as we enter the afternoon trading session. Numerous sectors are witnessing continuous downward pressure on their stocks.
Notably, shares in the energy, materials, and communications sectors are experiencing significant declines. Stocks in healthcare, utilities, and financial sectors are also generally underperforming.
The downturn is attributed to decreasing commodity prices and apprehensions about potential trade conflicts following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's recent threats to increase tariffs.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index has dropped by 257.66 points, approximately 1%, marking a level of 25,400.04.
Stocks facing substantial losses include Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), which is down by 6%, and New Gold Inc (NGD.TO), which has declined nearly 5.7%. Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO), Calibre Mining (CXB.TO), Ballard Power Systems (BLDP.TO), Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Capstone Copper Corp (CS.TO), and BlackBerry (BB.TO) have all seen declines ranging from 3% to 4.5%.
Additional significant decreases are seen in B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Telus Corporation (T.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO), Freehold Royalties (FRU.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), and Rogers Communications (RCI.B.TO).
Conversely, Empire Company Limited (EMP.A.TO) shares have surged by 7.5% following the company’s disclosure of second-quarter fiscal 2025 net earnings of $173.4 million ($0.73 per share), slightly down from $181.1 million ($0.72 per share) in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year. The adjusted net earnings for the quarter were $173.4 million ($0.73 per share), compared to $178.3 million ($0.71 per share) a year ago.
Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO) has gained 6.8%, while Transcontinental (TCL.B.TO) has risen by 4.5%. Both Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO) and Bausch+Lomb (BLCO.TO) have seen increases of nearly 3%. Other companies such as Propel Holdings (PRL.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), Senvest Capital (SEC.TO), George Weston (WN.TO), Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO), Loblaw Companies (L.TO), and Winpak (WPK.TO) have recorded gains ranging from 1% to 2.3%.
Furthermore, Transat A.T. Inc. (TRZ.TO) has climbed by more than 4% after announcing a net income of $41.2 million, equivalent to $1.05 per share for the quarter ending October 31, 2024, a sharp contrast to $3.2 million, or $0.08 per share, from the same quarter the previous year.
On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada indicated a 3.1% decrease in the total value of building permits in Canada, bringing it to $12.61 billion in October. This marks a decline following an 11.5% increase observed in the previous month.
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