Amidst sustained selling pressure across diverse sectors, the Canadian market appears poised for a notably weak close on Thursday. Weighing on the market are disheartening earnings reports from major U.S. tech companies, Microsoft Inc. and Meta Platforms, concerns surrounding the impending U.S. presidential election and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting, as well as dipping commodity prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index plunged to 24,098.49 earlier and recently stood 312.46 points lower, down 1.27% at 24,195.33. The sharp decline in technology stocks has notably affected the Information Technology Capped Index, which is down nearly 3%. Similarly, the Materials Capped Index decreased by 2.5% and the Energy Capped Index fell by 1.9%.
Financial, consumer staples, real estate, consumer discretionary, and industrial sectors are predominantly experiencing declines.
In contrast, Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) saw a surge of 11.2% following its report of a sixth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth in both Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA. The company revealed its third-quarter consolidated revenues at $2.51 billion, marking a 12% increase on a reported basis and a 9% increase on an organic basis, with growth across all segments.
Canadian Natural Resources Inc (CNQ.TO) posted net earnings of $2,266 million for the quarter ending September 30, 2024, slightly down from $2,344 million in the same period last year, leading to a 0.5% dip in the stock price.
Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE.TO) experienced nearly a 4% drop after reporting third-quarter net earnings of $820 million compared to $1,000 million in the prior year.
Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO) fell over 11% following its announcement of a first-quarter net income of $84 million, marginally higher than $81 million a year earlier.
Gildan Activewear Inc (GIL.TO) reported third-quarter net earnings of $131.5 million, up from $127.4 million in the corresponding year-ago quarter, resulting in moderate stock gains.
Conversely, Veren Inc (VRN.TO) is plummeting by 13.6% after reporting net income of $277.2 million for the quarter ending September 30, 2024, as opposed to a net loss of $809.9 million from the previous year.
On the economic front, Canada's GDP likely experienced a 0.3% growth in September, according to data from Statistics Canada. However, economic growth in August remained stagnant, aligning with preliminary estimates and market projections.
Additionally, Canadian wages increased by 4.6% in August 2024 compared to the previous year, as noted by separate data from Statistics Canada.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business reported an uptick in their Business Barometer index, an indicator of 12-month forward expectations for business performance in the country, which rose to 55.8 in October 2024 from a revised 55.1 in September.
