After edging up slightly in early trades, the Canadian market slipped into the red Wednesday morning, and remains weak a little past noon, weighed down by losses in technology and materials sections.
Despite encouraging signs about a quick economic recovery in the wake of momentum in vaccine rollout and recent buoyant economic data, the market slipped due to falling bullion prices.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which plunged to 18,248.31, losing more than 170 points in the process, regained most of the lost ground and was down 28.31 points or 0.15% at 18,393.29 a few minutes past noon.
The Capped Information Technology Index is down nearly 2.5%. Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO) is declining by about 3%, Absolute Software Corp (ABST.TO) and Docebo Inc. (DCBO.TO) are both lower by about 3.7%, and Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO) is down 3%. Constellation Software (CSU.TO), CGI Group (GIB.A.TO), Descartes Systems (DSG.TO) and Lightspeed Pos (LSPD.TO) are also down sharply.
In the materials section, MAG Silver (MAG.TO), Ssr Mining (SSRM.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Silvercorp Metals (SVM.TO), Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO), Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS.TO) and Franco-Nevada Corp (FNV.TO) are down 3 to 5%.
Energy stocks are up sharply on higher crude oil prices. Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO), Seven Generations Energy (VII.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) are gaining 3 to 5%. Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) are also up sharply.
Consumer discretionary stock Spin Master Corp (TOY.TO) is up more than 9%, extending gains from recent session. Sleep Country Canada Holdings (GOOS.TO) is rising 7.15%, while Magna International (MG.TO) and Brp Inc. (DOO.TO) are up 3.7% and 3.5%, respectively.
On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed building permits in Canada increased 8.2% to an all-time high of C$ 9.9 billion in January, beating forecasts for a 3.5% increase.
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