On Tuesday, the Canadian market weakened, extending losses from the prior session amid political turmoil triggered by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's resignation announcement. The downturn was further exacerbated by a sell-off in the technology sector.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index closed with a decline of 69.90 points, or 0.28%, at 24,929.89. The index initially rose to a high of 25,197.00 during early trading but fell to a low of 24,863.85 in the final hour.
The Capped Information Technology Index saw a significant decline of 3.13%, as technology stocks suffered due to rising bond yields. Notably, Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) dropped 6.3%. Other tech companies, including Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO), Dye & Durham (DND.TO), Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO), Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO), Tecsys (TCS.TO), Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO), Coveo Solutions (CVO.TO), and Open Text Corp (OTEX.TO), experienced losses between 2% and 4%.
Beyond the tech sector, Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO), Cameco Corporation (CCO.TO), Stella-Jones (SJ.TO), Capital Power Corporation (CPX.TO), Dayforce (DAY.TO), and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) were notable decliners from various other sectors.
In contrast, Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO) saw a gain of 4.7%. However, companies like Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Cogeco Communications (CCA.TO), Quebecor Inc (QBR.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) recorded losses ranging from 2% to 4.5%.
GFL Environmental Inc. (GFL.TO) fell by 1% after announcing its decision to sell its environmental services division to Apollo Global Management and BC Partners in a transaction valued at C$ 8 billion.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported the nation's trade deficit narrowed to C$ 0.32 billion in November, down from a revised deficit of C$ 0.54 billion the previous month. Export levels increased by 2.2% to reach C$ 66.1 billion, while imports grew by 1.8% to C$ 66.4 billion.
Additionally, a report from the Ivey Business School highlighted that the Ivey Purchasing Managers Index in Canada rose to 54.7 in December, improving from 52.3 in November.
