TSX Ends Lower As Inflation Data Fuels Interest Rate Concerns

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended notably lower on Wednesday, weighed down by losses in healthcare, technology, financials and materials shares.

Energy stocks moved higher, tracking firm crude oil prices.

The mood remained cautious as data showing a slightly bigger than expected increase in Canadian inflation raised concerns the Bank of Canada will continue to aggressively hike interest rates.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which dropped to 18,577.02 about an hour past noon, settled at 18,674.40, down 123.78 points or 0.66%.

The Health Care Capped Index dropped 4.64%. Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) and Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) both ended lower by about 6.5%. Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO), Cronos Group (CRON.TO) and Bellus Health Inc (BLU.TO) lost 3.3 to 3.%.

Technology stocks Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO) and Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO) lost 6.8% and 5.6%, respectively. BlackBerry (BB.TO), Descartes Systems (DSG.TO), Telus International (TIXT.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO) and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) ended lower by 1.2 to 3.1%.

In the financials section, Goeasy (GSY.TO) ended lower by about 4.5%. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Laurentian Bank (LB.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) lost 1 to 2.5%.

Materials shares First Majestic Silver Corp (FR.TO), K92 Mining Inc. (KNT.TO), Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Yamana Gold (YRI.TO), MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), Ssr Mining (SSRM.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) andWest Fraser Timber (WFG.TO) shed 3 to 5.6%.

Energy stocks Precision Drilling (PD.TO) and Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) gained 6.7% and 6.5%, respectively. Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Athabasca Oil Corp (ATH.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) and Arc Resources (ARX.TO) gained 3.5 to 4.5%.

Data from Statistics Canada showed annual inflation rate slowed to 6.9% in September, from 7% in the previous month, and slightly above forecasts for a 6.8% rise.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged higher by 0.1% in September, rebounding from a 0.3% drop in August.

Core consumer prices in Canada increased 6% in September over the same month in the previous year. Month-over-month, core consumer prices increased to 149.10 points in September from 148.5 points in August.

A separate data from Statistics Canada showed producer prices in Canada rose by 9% year-on-year in September of 2022, slowing from a downwardly revised 10.2% surge in the previous month. It was the smallest increase in producer prices in 18 months.

Meanwhile, Canada's raw materials price index tumbled 11% from a year earlier in September 2022, following a revised 19.3% drop in August.