Canadian Market Headed For Weak Close

(RTTNews) - With several stocks from across various sectors reeling under sustained selling pressure, the Canadian market looks headed for a very weak close on Thursday.

Disappointing earnings updates from U.S. tech majors Microsoft Inc., and Meta Platforms, anxiety ahead of U.S. presidential election and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting, and weak commodity prices are weighing on the Canadian market.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which dropped to 24,098.49 earlier in the session, was down 312.46 points or 1.27% at 24,195.33 a little while ago.

With technology stocks declining sharply, the Information Technology Capped Index is down nearly 3%. The Materials Capped Index and the Energy Capped Index are down 2.5% and 1.9%, respectively.

Financials, consumer staples, real estate, consumer discretionary and industrials shares are mostly down in negative territory.

Healthcare stock Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) is up 11.2% after the company reported its sixth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth in both Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA.

Third quarter consolidated revenues of $2.51 billion, up 12% on a Reported basis and 9% on an Organic (non-GAAP) basis, with growth in all segments, the company said.

Canadian Natural Resources Inc (CNQ.TO) reported net earnings of $2,266 milliom for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, compared with net earnings of $2,344 million in the year-ago quarter. The stock is down by about 0.5%.

Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE.TO) is down nearly 4%. The company reported third-quarter net earnings of $820 million, compared with $1,000 million in the year-ago quarter.

Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO) is down more than 11% after the company reported first-quarter net income of $84 million, compared with $81 million a year ago.

Gildan Activewear Inc (GIL.TO) said posted net earnings of $131.5 million in the third-quarter, up from $127.4 million in the year-ago quarter. The stock is up with a modest gain.

Veren Inc (VRN.TO) is plunging 13.6% after the company reported net income of $277.2 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, as against net loss of $809.9 million a year ago.

Canada's GDP likely grew by 0.3% in September, data from Statistics Canada showed. Economic growth in August, however, was stagnant, consistent with preliminary estimates and market expectations.

Wages in Canada increased 4.6% in August 2024 over the same month in the previous year, a separate data from Statistics Canada said.

A report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said the CFIB's Business Barometer, a long-term index reflecting 12-month forward expectations for business performance in the country, edged up to 55.8 in October 2024 from an upwardly revised 55.1 in September.