Canadian Stocks Down Marginally In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - After opening weak and recovering briefly to move into positive territory, the Canadian stock market retreated in cautious trade Wednesday morning as worries about geopolitical tensions resurfaced amid doubts over Russia's promise to scale down military operations in Ukraine.

Ukraine said Russia has violated its pledge to reduce military activity in Kyiv and Chernihiv by continuing to attack both the battlefronts.

Russia's Defense Ministry had said on Tuesday that Russia would "drastically reduce military activity" on the two Ukrainian cities.

Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin told reporters that the decision to ease the invasion was taken in response to Ukraine's proposal in Tuesday's three-hours-long talks to become a neutral and non-nuclear state in exchange for security guarantees.

Russia's offer was met with skepticism by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other western leaders. Zelensky has called for tighter sanctions against Russia.

Materials and energy stocks are higher thanks to firm commodity prices. Several stocks from the healthcare sector are up with strong gains, while technology stocks are weak.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 22.33 points or 0.11% at 22,064.91. Earlier, the index, which eased to 22,025.46, advanced to 22,109.17 before retreating again.

The Health Care Capped Index is up 3.15%. Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) and Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) are gaining 7.5% and 7%, respectively. Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) is up 6% and Cronos Group (CRON.TO) is rising 5.2%.

The Energy Capped Index is up 0.85%. Advantage Oil & Gas (AAV.TO), up nearly 5%, tops the list of gainers in the section. Parex Resources (PXT.TO) and Secure Energy Services (SES.TO) are up 2.3% and 2.2%, respectively. Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) are up 1.2 to 1.8%.

The Materials Capped Index is gaining 1.25%. Lithium Americas Corp (LAC.TO) is soaring 13%. Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), Fortuna Silver Mines (FVI.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Novagold (NG.TO), Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO), Ssr Mining (SSRM.TO), Wesdome Gold Mines (WDO.TO) and Methanex Corp (MX.TO) are gaining 2 to 4%.

The Information Technology Capped Index is down more than 2%. Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO) and Dye & Durham (DND.TO) are down 4.2%, 4% and 3.1%, respectively. Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO), BlackBerry (BB.TO) and Descartes Systems (DSG.TO) are lower by 2 to 2.7%.

Dollarama Inc (DOL.TO) shares are up 2.3% after the company reported a 32.1% jump in diluted earnings per share at $0.74 for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022. Diluted earnings per share increased 20.4% to $2.18 for the full financial year 2021-22.