The Canadian market remains entrenched in negative territory a little past noon on Monday, with stocks across various sectors experiencing sharp declines due to ongoing selling pressure. Investors remain cautious as they await new economic data to gauge future Federal Reserve interest rate decisions.
Among the biggest losers are stocks in the materials, energy, technology, utilities, and communications sectors. Additionally, several companies in real estate, financials, and healthcare are also exhibiting weakness.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index has fallen by 137.13 points, or 0.63%, to 21,501.97, a few minutes past noon.
Notable decliners include Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Pembina Pipeline Corporation (PPL.TO), Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO), CCL Industries (CCL.B.TO), West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO), goeasy (GSY.TO), Colliers International (CIGI.TO), Franco Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), and Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), which have decreased between 1% and 3.3%.
Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Lundin Mining Corp (LUN.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), Kinross Gold (K.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), and Baytex Energy (BTE.TO) have also seen significant declines.
In contrast, BRP Inc (DOO.TO) is up by 2.3%. Other gainers include Canadian Pacific Kansas (CP.TO), AtkinsRealis Group (ATRL.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), RB Global (RBA.TO), Bombardier (BBD.B.TO), and EQB Inc (EQB.TO), all showing notable increases.
Primo Water (PRMW.TO) has surged by 3.6%. Primo Water and an affiliate of BlueTriton Brands have entered into an all-stock merger agreement, resulting in the creation of a North American healthy hydration company. Once finalized, Primo Water shareholders and holders of incentive equity will hold 43% of the fully diluted shares of the new combined entity, while BlueTriton shareholders will own the remaining 57%.
On the economic front, data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation revealed that housing starts in Canada rose to 264,500 units in May, up from 241,100 units in April.
