Energy, Technology Stocks Dragging Down Canadian Market

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is down in negative territory in late morning trade on Wednesday, weighed down by losses in energy, healthcare and technology shares.

Concerns over rising inflation and likelihood of the Federal Reserve hiking rates sooner than earlier thought appear to be hurting sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 37.10 points or 0.17% at 21,557.42 about half an hour before noon. Earlier, the index advanced to a new high of 21,597.80.

The Capped Energy Index is down 1.79%. Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) is plunging more than 9%. Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO), Parex Resources (PXT.TO) and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) are declining 2 to 3.7%.

Among healthcare stocks, Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) and Well Health Technologies (WELL.TO) are down 2.3% and 2.4%, respectively. Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO), Organigram Holdings (OGI.TO) and Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) are down 1.4 to 1.7%.

In the technology section, Viq Solutions (VQS.TO) is down more than 13%. Absolute Software Corp (ABST.TO) is down 3.4%. Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO), Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) and Lightspeed Pos (LSPD.TO) are down 2 to 2.5%.

Quarterhill Inc. (QTRH.TO) reported consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of $7.6 million for the third quarter, compared to $39.0 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The stock is declining by about 2.5%.

CGI Inc (GIB.A.TO) is down 2%. CGI reported net earnings of $345.9 million for the fourth quarter of this financial year, up 11.5% over a year ago.

Endeavour Silver Corp (EDR.TO), up nearly 10%, tops the list of gainers in the Materials Index. SSR Mining Corp (SSRM.TO), Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO), Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Kinross Gold (K.TO), Kirkland Lake Gold (KL.TO) and First Majestic Silver Corp (FR.TO) are down 3 to 4.5%.

Boyd Group Services Inc. (BYD.TO) shares are down 8% after the company said its net earnings decreased to $0.4 million in the third quarter of this financial year, compared with $15.9 million in the same period of 2020 and net earnings per share decreased to $0.02, compared with $0.74 in the same period of 2020.

Data released by the Labor Department this morning showed the consumer price index in the U.S. jumped by 0.9% in October after rising by 0.4% in September. Economists had expected consumer prices to climb by 0.6%.

The Labor Department also said the annual rate of growth in consumer prices accelerated to 6.2% in October from 5.4% in September, reaching the highest level since November of 1990.

The acceleration in the rate of consumer price inflation raised concerns about the outlook for interest rates even though the Federal Reserve has signaled it will not be in a hurry to begin raising rates.