Canadian Market Down Marginally In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is down in negative territory Thursday afternoon, losing ground for a second successive session, after an eight-day winning streak.

Worries about global economic slowdown outweigh recent data showing inflation in the U.S. and Canada cooled in December.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 19.74 points or 0.1% at 20,356.49. The index dropped to a low of 20,258.31 earlier in the session.

Healthcare and technology stocks are notably lower, while energy stocks are among the prominent gainers. Consumer staples and materials shares are finding some support.

In economic news, data from Statistics Canada said wholesale sales in Canada rose by 0.5% from a month earlier to C$83.8 billion in November of 2022, revised from preliminary estimates of a 1.9% increase and compared to the downwardly revised 1.9% rise in the prior month.

Another data from Statistics Canada showed car registrations in Canada decreased to 123,874 units in November from 132,260 units in October, 2022.

Hawkish comments from some Fed officials and data showing a drop in U.S. jobless claims in the week ended January 14th, have raised some uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates.

A report released by the Labor Department unexpectedly showed a decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended January 14th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 190,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 205,000. The dip surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to rise to 214,000.