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Falling commodity prices and higher treasury bond yields continued to drive Canadian equities lower for the third consecutive session on Thursday. After stronger-than-expected U.S. manufacturing and services numbers also hurt near-term rate cut hopes, the S&P/TSX Composite Index dived by 146 points, or 0.7%, yesterday to settle at 22,201.
While most key TSX sectors ended the session in the red territory, the market selloff was mainly triggered by big intraday losses in shares of metal mining, utility, and consumer cyclical companies.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Bombardier, First Quantum Minerals, Orla Mining, and BlackBerry were the worst-performing TSX stocks for the day as they plunged by at least 4.6% each.
Shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD) slipped by 1.6% to $75.58 per share despite posting better-than-expected quarterly revenues and earnings. In the second quarter of its fiscal year 2024 (ended in April), the bank’s revenue rose 10.2% year over year to $13.8 billion with the help of the strong performance of its Canadian personal and commercial banking segment.
TD Bank’s adjusted quarterly earnings rose 5.2% from a year ago in the April quarter to $2.04 per share, exceeding Street analysts’ expectation of $1.85 per share. However, the lender announced a provision of $615 million to address the ongoing anti-money laundering investigations against it in the United States. TD stock is now down 11.7% on a year-to-date basis and offers a 5.3% annualized dividend yield.
On the flip side, Celestica and Alimentation Couche-Tard rose at least 2.3% each, making them the day’s top performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Based on their daily trade volume, Enbridge, Suncor Energy, Cenovus Energy, Manulife Financial, and Toronto-Dominion Bank were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Crude oil prices extended their decline for the fifth consecutive session on Friday, while metals prices experienced a slight recovery in early morning trading. Given these mixed signals, I expect the commodity-heavy main TSX index to remain flat at the open today.
Although no major economic releases from the United States are due, Canadian investors may want to keep an eye on the latest domestic retail sales numbers this morning.
Overall, TSX stocks may remain volatile as investors await several important economic data scheduled to be released next week, including the U.S. consumer confidence, quarterly growth in gross domestic product, and personal consumption expenditure.
Market movers on the TSX today
