TSX Comes Off 2-month High, Ends 0.7% Down

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session at a 2-month high, the Canadian market turned in a weak performance on Tuesday, despite data showing a drop in consumer price inflation. Losses in consumer, utilities and healthcare sectors weighed down the market.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 136.50 points or 0.67% at 20,109.97, near the day's low. The index touched a high of 20,259.47 in early trades.

Data from Statistics Canada showed the annual inflation rate in Canada fell to 3.1% in October of 2023 from 3.8% in the previous month. The result was softer than the Bank of Canada's forecast that inflation is likely to remain close to 3.5% through the middle of next year.

The core inflation rate fell slightly to 2.7%, while the closely-watched trimmed-mean core rate dropped to 3.5%, compared to expectations of 3.7%. From the previous month, consumer prices edged 0.1% higher.

Consumer discretionary stocks Park Lawn Corp (PLC.TO), Brp Inc (DOO.TO), Magna International (MG.TO), Pet Valu Holding (PET.TO), Linamar Corp (LNR.TO), Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO), Mty Food Group (MTY.TO) and Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) lost 2 to 4.1%.

In the consumer staples section, Weston George (WN.TO) tumbled 5.6% after reporting a sharp drop in third quarter net earnings. Maple Leaf Foods (MFI.TO) drifted down 4.4%.

Healthcare stocks Sienna Senior Living (SIA.TO), Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) and Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) lost 1.6 to 2%, while Chartwell Retirement Residences (CSH.UN.TO) ended 1.28% down.

Among the stocks in the Utilities index, Transalta Corp (TA.TO) and Capital Power Corp (CPX.TO) both ended down 6.4%. Innergex Renewable Energy (INE.TO) ended 2.35% down, and Atco Ltd (ACO.X.TO) drifted down 2.25%.

New home prices in Canada fell by 0.8% from the previous year in October, following a 1% drop in September and marking the seventh consecutive decrease since November 2019, data from Statistics Canada showed.

New home prices in Canada remained unchanged month-on-month in October 2023, following a 0.2% drop in September and in line with market forecasts.