On Friday, the Canadian market experienced a significant downturn as widespread selling pressure took its toll on various stocks, amidst growing fears of a potential recession in the U.S. economy.
Concerns about the world's largest economy intensified following a weak manufacturing activity report on Thursday. Today, the Labor Department released data revealing a much smaller-than-expected addition of jobs in U.S. non-farm payroll employment for July, coupled with an increase in unemployment, further heightening these worries.
Disappointing earnings reports from major U.S. companies, such as Intel and Amazon, also negatively impacted market sentiment.
Shares in energy, technology, materials, healthcare, financials, and industrials sectors saw sharp declines. Stocks in consumer discretionary, real estate, and consumer staples sectors didn’t do much better. Only a few stocks from utilities and communications found modest support.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which earlier plunged to 22,020.18, was down by 571.84 points or 2.52% at 22,151.37 shortly ago.
Among the hardest hit were Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO), and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), all down between 7 to 8%.
Dayforce (DAY.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), Cargojet (CJT.TO), Colliers International (CIGI.TO), Stantec (STN.TO), Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO), TFI International (TFII.TO), and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) each declined by 3 to 6%.
Imperial Oil Limited (IMO.TO) reported a net income of $1,133 million for Q2 2024, up from $675 million a year ago, yet its stock dropped by 2%.
In contrast, Telus Corp (T.TO) gained 1.5% after announcing a net income of $221 million for Q2, up 12.8% from $196 million in the corresponding period last year.
Magna International Inc. (MG.TO) fell 5.2% after reporting a net income of $313 million for Q2 2024, compared to $339 million in the same quarter of the previous year.
Canadian Utilities Limited (CU.TO) edged up 0.5%, reporting adjusted earnings of $117 million ($0.43 per share) for Q2 2024, against $100 million ($0.37 per share) in Q2 2023.
ATCO Ltd. (ACO.X.TO) posted adjusted earnings of $96 million ($0.86 per share) for Q2, up from $87 million ($0.77 per share) in the same quarter the previous year, with its stock trading modestly higher.
Enbridge Inc. (ENB.TO) announced adjusted earnings of $1.2 billion or $0.58 per common share for Q2, compared to $1.4 billion or $0.68 per common share in the year-ago quarter, and its stock saw a marginal increase.
