Canadian Stocks Tumble As Fed Comments Dash Rate Cut Hopes

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended notably lower on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said it does not expect it will be appropriate to lower rates until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%.

Due to widespread selling, all the sectoral indices ended in negative territory. Technology, healthcare, utilities, financials and energy stocks were among the major losers.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 205.99 points or 0.97% at 21,014.17.

Healthcare stocks Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) and Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) ended down 4.3% and 3.8%, respectively.

Technology stocks Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO) and Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO) lost 4.2% and 3.3%, respectively. Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO), Tecsys Inc (TCS.TO), Softchoice Corp (SFTC.TO), Quarterhill (QTRH.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO) and Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO) ended lower by 2 to 3%.

CGI Group Inc (GIB.A.TO) gained nearly 1% after reporting higher first quarter earnings.

Canadian Utilities Ltd. (CU.TO), down 2.7%, was the biggest loser in the Utilities index. Brookfield Infra Partners (BIP.UN.TO), Algonquin Power and Utilities Corp (AQN.TO) and Superior Plus Corp (SPB.TO) ended lower by 1.8 to 2%.

Energy stocks Nuvista Energy (NVA.TO), Parex Resources (PXT.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) lost 1.6 to 3.4%.

In the financials sector, Laurentian Bank (LB.TO), EQB Inc (EQB.TO), Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) lost 1 to 2%.

Consumer discretionary stocks Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO), Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) and Giland Activewear (GIL.TO), and materials shares Lithium Americas Argentina Corp (LAAC.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Filo Mining (FIL.TO), Methanex Corp (MX.TO) and Nutrien (NTR.TO) were among the other prominent losers in the session.

Jamieson Wellness (JWEL.TO), Ag Growth International (AFN.TO) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO) gained 1.7 to 2%.

Data from Statistics Canada said Canada's economy likely grew 0.3% in December 2023, according to preliminary estimates. In November, GDP increased by 0.2%, higher than the preliminary estimate of 0.1% advance, and following three months of stagnation.