Canadian equities traded on a negative note for a second consecutive session on Thursday, as investors continued to assess the impact of more interest rate hikes on the economy. While the TSX Composite Index opened sharply lower, it regained some of its losses later during the day to settle at 19,241 with about 36 points drop. While a notable decline in gold prices drove the shares of metal mining companies sharply lower, weakness in other key sectors like consumer non-cyclicals and real estate also dragged the market down.
Top TSX movers and active stocks
Shares of Lightspeed Commerce (TSX:LSPD) tanked by 18.6% yesterday to settle at $20.04 per share, despite the release of its better-than-expected September quarter results. The Montréal-based tech company’s total revenue rose by 38.9% year over year for the quarter with the help of a sharp 56% jump in its transaction-based revenue. As a result, Lightspeed registered an adjusted quarterly net loss of US$0.05 per share — narrower than Street’s expectation of US$0.07 per share. On a year-to-date basis, LSPD stock now trades with 60.8% losses.
Spin Master, Equinox Gold, and Nutrien were also among the worst-performing TSX stocks, as they tanked by at least 14% each yesterday.
On the positive side, Advantage Energy, Parex Resources, Canaccord Genuity, and HudBay Minerals became the top performers for the day by rising at least 7.5% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, Barrick Gold, Enbridge, Suncor Energy, and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners were the most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Early Friday morning, commodity prices across the board for trading on a strong bullish note, which should help the main TSX index edge higher at the open today — with expected sharp gains in mining and energy stocks. Apart from domestic purchasing managers index figures, Canadian investors may want to keep a close eye on the important U.S. jobs market reports for October this morning, which could give further direction to TSX stocks.
As the ongoing earnings season continues, Canadian companies Sleep Country Canada, Constellation Software, Telus International, Uni Select, Magna International, Enbridge, Telus, TransAlta Renewables, SNC-Lavalin Group, Brookfield Business Partners, Brookfield Renewable Partners, and Sprott are expected to release their latest quarterly results on November 4.
