The Canadian market remained in negative territory on Tuesday morning with multiple sectors experiencing declines amidst sustained selling pressure. Investors are on edge as they await pivotal U.S. economic data and the Federal Reserve's upcoming monetary policy announcement for further direction.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 148.48 points, or 0.67%, settling at 21,921.28.
Sectors such as materials, healthcare, and financials saw significant losses.
Notable decliners included Stelco Holdings and Cameco Corporation, which fell 4.1% and 3.9% respectively. Additionally, Nutrien (NTR.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.A.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), TFI International (TFII.TO), goeasy (GSY.TO), and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) saw declines ranging from 1% to 3%.
Stocks such as Novagold (NG.TO), Lundin Mining (LUN.TO), Algoma Steel (ASTL.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), and Interfor Corp (IFP.TO) decreased between 3% and 4.2%.
Healthcare stocks Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) and Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) also experienced losses, falling 2% and 2.2%, respectively.
In the financial sector, CI Financial Corp (CIX.TO), Power Corporation of Canada (POW.TO), Sprott Inc (SII.TO), Manulife Financial (MFC.TO), and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) dropped between 1% and 2.3%.
On a positive note, Copperleaf Technologies Inc (CPLF.TO) surged by 17%. The increase follows the announcement of a deal with Industrial and Financial Systems, under which the latter will indirectly acquire all outstanding common shares of Copperleaf at $12 per share.
Fairfax Financial Holdings Inc (FFH.TO) increased its stake in Ensign Energy Services (ESI.TO) by purchasing 3.79 million shares at $2.34 per share, which was Monday's closing price. Fairfax Financial saw a slight uptick, while Ensign shares declined by 2.5%.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that building permits in Canada saw a 20.5% month-on-month rise in April, rebounding from a 12.3% decline in March.
