FX.co ★ Canadian Market Modestly Lower At Noon; Energy, Cannabis Stocks Fall

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Canadian market is experiencing a minor slump fuelled by sectors such as healthcare, energy, and consumer discretionary. Investors adopt an air of caution as they digest novel US economic data and anticipate the Federal Reserve's monetary policy statement.

On local economics, the S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI displayed a 0.4 point decrease in April to 49.4, extending the nation's manufacturing activity contraction streak to twelve months.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index also saw a 0.22% drop just past noon, now standing at 21,664.70 with a 49.84-point decrease.

The Healthcare Capped Index recorded a 4.7% fall. Notably, Tilray Inc., which made significant progress in the last trading session, experienced a 17.8% decrease. Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth Corporation plummeted by 21% and 26% respectively. Organigram Holdings also saw a significant decline of about 8%.

Energy Capped Index was nearly 2% lower. Shares of companies such as Baytex Energy, Tamarack Valley Energy, Crescent Point Energy, Birchcliff Energy, Vermilion Energy, and Whitecap Resources all declined by 3 to 4%, while Cenovus Energy Inc. reported a 1.7% decrease following the announcement of their first-quarter net earnings of $1,176 million.

As for Consumer discretionary stocks, Restaurant Brands International dipped by 3.7%. Similar decreases were seen in Mty Food Group, Aritzia Inc., and Canada Goose Holdings shares, with each falling between 1.6 to 1.9%. Brp Inc marked a smaller decrease of nearly 1%.

On the brighter side, companies such as Bombardier Inc, Boralex, Cameco Corporation, Boyd Group Services, Sprott Inc, Descartes Systems Group, Constellation Software, Kinaxis Inc, George Weston, Intact Financial Corporation witnessed increases ranging between 1 to 3%.

Loblaw Companies also experienced an increase of around 1.2%, reporting its first-quarter 2024 adjusted net earnings as $537 million, marking an increase of $32 million or 6.3% in comparison to the same quarter last year.

In similar lines, CGI Inc reported their second-quarter net earnings to be $426.9 million, marking a 1.8% increase year-on-year; however, their shares dropped by 2.2%.

Lastly, Fortis Inc. reported a rise in first-quarter net earnings from $437 million to $459 million which equates to an increase from $0.90 to $0.93 per common share. The company's share noticed a moderate 0.8% gain.