Canadian equities experienced a mixed performance on Tuesday as investors weighed Fed Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony and awaited key economic data, including the upcoming U.S. consumer price inflation report.
Sectors such as communications, industrials, energy, and technology faced notable declines, while healthcare and financial stocks found some support.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index was slightly lower, down 52.50 points or 0.25%, at 22,073.63 as of the latest update.
Maple Leaf Foods (MFI.TO) surged 6% following its announcement to spin off its pork segment, separating it from its consumer-packaged goods business. This move will create two independent, publicly traded companies.
Meanwhile, Altus Group (AIF.TO) rose 4.5%. Other gainers included Brookfield Renewable Corporation (BEPC.TO), Aritzia Inc. (ATZ.TO), Terravest Industries (TVK.TO), Canadian Western Bank (CWB.TO), National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO), with shares up between 1% and 2.2%.
On the downside, Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO) dropped 6.6%, and Badger Infrastructure Solutions (BDGI.TO) fell nearly 6%. Other notable decliners included Finning International (FTT.TO), Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO), Cogeco Inc. (CGO.TO), Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO), Rogers Communications (RCI.A.TO), and Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO), all down between 2% and 3.1%.
Shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO), BRP Inc. (DOO.TO), Toromont Industries (TIH.TO), Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO), goeasy (GSY.TO), and Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) also declined, shedding between 1.2% and 2%.
During his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, Fed Chair Powell indicated that additional positive economic data would boost the central bank's confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward its 2% target, potentially leading to an interest rate cut.
"The Committee has stated that we do not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range for the federal funds rate until we have gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%," Powell remarked in his prepared statement.
