Canadian Market Notably Lower At Noon

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are down firmly in negative territory around noon on Wednesday, weighed down by losses in technology, healthcare, materials, energy and financials sections.

Concerns about economic slowdown following some disappointing data from the U.S. appear to be weighing on the market.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which tumbled to 20,097.59, is down 120.76 points or 0.6% at 20,155.00 a few minutes before noon.

Lithium Americas Corp (LAC.TO) is down nearly 7%. Nuvei Corporation (NVEI.TO), Toromont Industries (TIH.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), ATS Corporation (ATS.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Bomardier Inc (BBD.B.TO) and WSP Global (WSP.TO) are down 2 to 5%.

Nutrien (NTR.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), TFI International (TFII.TO) and Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO) are also notably lower.

Rogers Communications (RCI.A.TO), Emera Inc (EMA.TO), Fortis Inc (FTS.TO), Atco Ltd. (ACO.X.TO), Hydro One (H.TO), TC Energy Corporation (TRP.TO), Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO) and Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (PBH.TO) are gaining 1 to 2%.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed Canada posted a trade surplus of C$ 420 million in February of 2023, down sharply from the downwardly revised surplus of C$ 1.2 billion in the previous month. Total exports fell by 2.4% to C$ 65 billion in the period, while imports fell by a slower 1.3% to C$ 64.6 billion.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by payroll processor ADP showed private sector employment rose by 145,000 jobs in March after climbing by an upwardly revised 261,000 jobs in February.

Economists had expected private sector employment to advance by 200,000 jobs compared to the addition of 242,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

A separate report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed growth in U.S. service sector activity slowed by much more than expected in the month of March.

The ISM said its services PMI slid to 51.2 in March from 55.1 in February. While a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the sector, economists had expected the index to show a much more modest decrease to 54.5.