The Canadian market ended sharply lower on Tuesday, weighed down by losses in energy, materials and technology sectors. Weak commodity prices, and concerns about global economic growth and uncertainty about the pace of U.S. interest rate cuts rendered the mood bearish.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which fell to a low of 22,976.55, losing nearly 370 points in the process, ended with a loss of 303.73 points or 1.3% at 23,042.45.
The Materials Capped Index fell 4.08%. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) plunged 13.8%. Lundin Mining Corp (LUN.TO) tanked 12.5% and Capstone Mining Corp (CS.TO) plummeted 11.1%.
Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Aya Gold & Silver (AYA.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), Ssr Mining (SSRM.TO), Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO), Kinross Gold (K.TO) and Filo Mining (FIL.TO) also ended sharply lower.
The Energy Capped Index lost 3.03%. International Petroleum Corp (IPCO.TO) lost 10%. Baytex Energy (BTE.TO) closed down 7.3%. Veren Inc (VRN.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Ces Energy Solutions (CEU.TO), Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO) and MEG Energy (MEG.TO) ended down 5 to6%.
The Information Technology Capped Index ended down 2.24%. Bitfarms (BITF.TO) plunged more than 9%. Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) tumbled 8.25%. BlackBerry (BB.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO) and Tecsys Inc (TCS.TO) lost 3 to 4%.
Among consumer discretionary stocks, Brp Inc (DOO.TO) ended down 3.6%. Dollarama Inc (DOL.TO), Linamar Corp (LNR.TO), Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO), Mty Food Group (MTY.TO) and Magna International (MG.TO) lost 2 to 2.5%.
Among the gainers, Molson Coors Canada Inc (TPX.B.TO) surged 7.4%. Fortis Inc (FTS.TO), ATCO (ACO.Y.TO), Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO) gained 1 to 1.8%.
On the economic front, the S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI rose to 49.5 in August 2024 from 47.8 in July, signaling the softest contraction in operating conditions since March and extending the decline to 16 months.