Materials, Technology Stocks Dragging Down Canadian Market

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market, which retreated after moving modestly higher earlier in the session, is down in negative territory in late afternoon trade on Tuesday, led by losses in healthcare, materials and technology sections.

The mood is quite cautious amid lingering worries about the war in Ukraine, and looming interest rate hikes.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 65.85 points or 0.3% at 22,019.75. The index, which rose to 22,213.07 earlier in the day, dropped to a low of 21,978.27 about an hour past noon.

The Healthcare Capped Index is down more than 2.8%. Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) is down 7%. Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO), Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) and Cronos Group (CRON.TO) are down 5.8%, 5.5% and 3.7%, respectively. Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) is lower by about 1.1%.

The Materials Capped Index is lower by 2.25%. Lithium Americas Corp (LAC.TO) is plunging more than 10%. Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Capstone Mining Corp (CS.TO), Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.TO) and Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO) are declining 5 to 6%. Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO) and Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO) are also down sharply.

Among technology stocks, Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO), Magnet Forensics (MAGT.TO), Dye & Durham (DND.TO), Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), Tecsys (TCS.TO) and Absolute Software Corp (ABST.TO) are down 3 to 6%.

Consumer staples shares Weston George (WN.TO) and Metro Inc (MRU.TO) are rising 2.15% and 1.75%, respectively. The North West Company (NWC.TO) shares are climbing up 1.35% and Empire Company (EMP.A.TO) is gaining 1.3%.

BCE Inc (BCE.TO), up 1.8%, is the top gainer in the communications space. Rogers Communications (RCI.B.TO) is gaining 1.2% and Telus Corp (T.TO) is up 1%. Quebecor Inc (QBR.B.TO) is advancing 0.8%.

In economic news, data released by Statistics Canada showed Canada posted a trade surplus of C$ 2.66 billion in February of 2022, narrowing from an upwardly revised 13-year high surplus of C$ 3.12 billion in the previous month.

Imports rose by 3.9% to C$ 56.1 billion in February, while exports increased by 2.8% to a record high of C$ 58.7 billion.