Canadian Market Ends Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended notably lower on Tuesday after staying weak right through the day's session, as rising signs of slowing economic growth and looming policy tightening by central banks rendered the mood bearish.

The Federal Reserve, scheduled to announce its policy tomorrow, is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points. The bank's accompanying statement is likely to provide clues about future rate hikes.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 131.80 points or 0.69% at 18,972.68, nearly 50 points off the session's low of 18,923.42.

Technology stocks tumbled, tracking weakness in Nasdaq after Walmart lowered its guidance for the second quarter and full year primarily due to pricing actions aimed to improve inventory levels.

Healthcare and consumer discretionary stocks were the other major losers. Several stocks from real estate, financials and energy sectors too drifted lower.

The Information Technology Capped Index surged 4.62%. Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) plunged nearly 14%. The e-commerce firm will cut about 10% of its workforce today, as Chief Executive Officer Tobi Lutke acknowledged the company's decision to expand rapidly coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic didn't pay off. Most of the affected roles are in recruiting, support and sales, Lutke said in a memo posted on the company's website.

Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO) tumbled 7.7%. Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO), Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) and Softchoice Corp (SFTC.TO) lost 4 to 6%. Open Text Corp (OTEX.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) and BlackBerry (BB.TO) also ended sharply lower.

Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO), down 6.1%, was the biggest loser in the Health Care Index. Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO), Cronos Group (CRON.TO) and Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) lost 4.95%, 4.3% and 3.54%, respectively.

In the consumer discretionary section, Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO), Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO), Sleep Country Canada Holdings (ZZZ.TO), Canadian Tire Corp (CTC.A.TO) and Gildan Activewear (GIL.TO) ended lower by 5 to 7%.

National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), Laurentian Bank (LB.TO), CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) lost 1 to 2.5%.

Several stocks from materials and consumer staples sectors posted strong gains.

On the economic front, Statistics Canada said that according to preliminary estimates, wholesale sales in Canada rose 0.5% month-on-month in June 2022, thanks to higher sales in the miscellaneous goods subsector.