After a prominent upward trend over the past fortnight, Canadian stocks have made a slight retreat in Tuesday's trading. Although it bounced off its lowest point for the day, the key S&P/TSX Composite Index lingers in the red, down by 38.29 points or 0.2 percent at 21,161.77.
Today's minor setback could, in part, be a result of investors capitalizing on their profits following the S&P/TSX Composite Index's best close since April 2022 recorded at the end of yesterday's session. There might be some liquidations of assets resulting from the recent market surge in anticipation of some uncertainties that the upcoming Federal Reserve's policy announcement on Wednesday could bring.
Although it is anticipated that the Fed will keep interest rates steady, the statement they will release could greatly influence the future of these rates. The initial optimism for a rate cut in March has subsided as many economists now imply that the Fed might hold off on decreasing rates until May.
Healthcare stocks experienced a significant dip, which pulled the S&P/TSX Capped Health Care Index down by 1.2 percent. There's also some underperformance noted among commercial real estate and consumer staples stocks. On the brighter side, energy stocks are improving in line with the ascending crude oil prices.
