Canadian Market Modestly Higher In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares are turning in a mixed performance in cautious trade Tuesday morning with investors digesting the inflation data and reacting to quarterly earnings updates.

Data from Statistics Canada showed Canada's annual inflation rate at 7.6% in July of 2022, easing from the 39-year high of 8.1% hit in the prior month and in line with market estimates. The Consumer Price Index increased 0.1% in July over the previous month.

Core consumer prices in Canada increased 6.1% in July of 2022 over the same month in the previous year.

Meanwhile, housing starts in Canada increased by 1.1% over a month earlier to 275,329 units in July of 2022, data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CHMC) showed.

Healthcare and technology stocks are weak. Communications, consumer staples and financials shares are finding some support. Energy, materials and industrials shares are exhibiting a mixed trend.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 50.40 points or 0.25% at 20,231.00.

In the healthcare sector, Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) is down more than 6%, and Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) is lower by about 5.5%. Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO), Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) and Cronos Group (CRON.TO) are down 2.5 to 2.8%.

Technology stock Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO) is drifting down 8%. Dye & Durham (DND.TO) is down 5.5%, while Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO), Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO), Converge Technologies (CTS.TO) and Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) are down 2 to 4%.

Consumer staples shares Weston George (WN.TO), The North West Company (NWC.TO), Premium Brands Holdings (PBH.TO) and Loblaw (L.TO) are up 1 to 2%.

Among financials, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), Laurentian Bank (LB.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) and CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO) are up with sharp to moderate gains.

Cogeco Communications (CCA.TO), up 2.1%, tops the list of gainers in the communications space. Quebecor (QBR.B.TO), Rogers Communications (RCI.B.TO) and Corus Entertainment (CJR.B.TO) are gaining 1 to 1.25%.

Seabridge Gold Inc. (SEA.TO) posted a net profit of $19.1 million ($0.24 per share) for the quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to a net profit of $14.5 million ($0.19 per share) for the corresponding period in 2021. The stock is down nearly 1%.