TSX Ends Weak On Inflation Worries

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended weak on Wednesday as data showing an acceleration in U.S. inflation raised speculation that the Federal Reserve will likely tighten monetary policy sooner than expected.

Shares from healthcare, materials, consumer discretionary and industrials sectors were among the major losers. Real estate and utilities stocks also closed weak. Energy shares moved higher, tracking firm crude oil prices. Consumer staples and financial shares were subdued.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which tumbled to 19,067.70, ended with a loss of 166.27 points or 0.86% at 19,107.77.

Healthcare stocks Aphria Inc (APHA.TO) and Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) both ended lower by over 5.5%. Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO), Organigram Holdings (OGI.TO) and Cronos Group (CRON.TO) also declined sharply.

Among the stocks in the materials section, Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO) and First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) lost 7% and 6.7%, respectively. New Gold (NGD.TO), Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO), West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO), Interfor Corp (IFP.TO), Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO), Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS.TO), Lundin Mining Corp (LUN.TO) and Novagold (NG.TO) ended lower by 3 to 5%.

Consumer discretionary stock Brp Inc (DOO.TO) plunged 10.4%. Sleep Country Canada Holdings (ZZZ.TO) ended lower by 4.8%, Linamar Corp (LNR.TO) and Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO) both lost about 2.5%, and Martinrea International (MRE.TO) shed 1.6%.

Ritchie Bros Auctioneers (RBA.TO), down 7.2%, was the biggest loser in the industrials section. Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO), Badger Daylighting (BAD.TO), Mullen Group (MTL.TO), Westshore Terminals (WTE.TO), Ats Automation (ATA.TO), Air Canada (AC.TO) and Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO) lost 2 to 5%.

Energy stocks Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO) and MEG Energy Corp (MEG.TO) ended with strong gains.

On Wall Street, the major averages ended sharply lower today following a sell-off amid concerns about the accelerating pace of inflation following the release of the Labor Department's report on consumer prices in the month of April.

The Dow tumbled 681.50 points or 2%, the Nasdaq plummeted 357.75 points or 2.7% and the S&P 500 plunged 89.06 points or 2.1%.

The U.S. Labor Department said its consumer price index climbed by 0.8% in April after rising by 0.6% in March. Economists had expected consumer prices to inch up by 0.2%.

Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices also advanced by 0.9% in April following a 0.3% uptick in March. Core prices were expected to rise by another 0.3%. The much bigger than expected jump in core consumer prices reflected the largest increase since April of 1982.

With the much bigger than expected monthly increase, consumer prices in April were up by 4.2% compared to the same month a year ago, reflecting the biggest jump since September of 2008.