A tech sector selloff and weaker commodity prices continued to pressure the Canadian stock market for a second consecutive session as investors awaited NVIDIA’s latest quarterly earnings report and more economic data from the United States. The S&P/TSX Composite Index dived by 133 points, or 0.6%, on Wednesday to settle at 23,127.
Even though better-than-expected bank earnings led to a recovery in financial stocks, heavy losses in all other key market sectors, primarily mining, technology, and consumer cyclicals, weighed on the TSX index.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Shares of Kinaxis (TSX:KXS) tanked by 14.5% to $133.95 per share, making it the worst-performing TSX stock for the day. This selloff in KXS stock came after the Ottawa-headquartered software firm told investors that its chief executive officer, John Sicard, will retire at the end of 2024 after nearly three decades with the company.
In addition, its chief sales officer, Claire Rychlewski, will depart in November 2024 to pursue other opportunities. In the press release, Kinaxis also highlighted that it has started the search for Sicard’s successor as it aims to become a US$1 billion revenue company in the US$16 billion supply chain management software market.
Ivanhoe Mines, Capstone Copper, and New Gold were also among the bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange yesterday, with each sliding by at least 4.9%.
On the positive side, National Bank of Canada (TSX:NA) climbed by nearly 6% to $126.91 per share after announcing its better-than-expected earnings. In the quarter ended in July, robust performance across all business segments helped the bank register a solid 21.3% increase in its adjusted quarterly earnings from a year ago to $2.68 per share, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $2.49 per share.
Canadian Western Bank and Royal Bank of Canada were also among the top-performing TSX stocks for the day, with each rising by at least 2.2%.
Based on their daily trade volume, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor Energy, Osisko Mining, Sun Life Financial, and Bank of Montreal were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices across the board were bullish early Thursday morning, pointing to a slightly higher opening for the resource-heavy TSX Composite today.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors may want to keep an eye on the latest quarterly growth figures in the U.S. GDP (gross domestic product) this morning, which could give further direction to stocks.
On the corporate front, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce will announce its latest quarterly results on August 29. Street analysts expect the bank to report adjusted earnings of $1.74 per share for the July quarter with $6.26 billion in revenue.
Market movers on the TSX today
