The Canadian stock market, which opened marginally down Monday morning, kept sliding lower and lower as the session progressed and was fairly deep down in negative territory about an hour past noon.
Information technology, healthcare and energy stocks are among the prominent losers. Several stocks from materials, utilities and industrial sectors are also notably lower.
The mood is cautious with investors looking ahead to corporate earnings announcements. Also, after the market's historic surge, there is some uncertainty about near term direction. Worries about spikes in coronavirus cases in several countries also appear to be weighing on the market.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 145.80 points or 0.76% at 19,205.52.
The Capped Information Technology Index is sliding 2.55%. Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO) is plunging more than 14.5%. The company announced today that it has entered into a power purchase agreement with Validus Power Corp. to support its operations.
Lightspeed Pos (LSPD.TO) is declining more than 6%. Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) is down 4.4%, Constellation Software (CSU.TO) is lower by 2.5%, Photon Control (PHO.TO) is down 2.2% and Descartes Systems (DSG.TO) is drifting down by 2%. BlackBerry (BB.TO), Absolute Software (ABST.TO), Open Text Corp (OTEX.TO) and Dye & Durham (DND.TO) are also down sharply.
Data released by Canada Mortgage And Housing Corporation, housing starts in Canada surged 21.6% over a month earlier to 335,200 units in March, much higher than forecasts for a rise to 250,000 units. It was the highest reading since records became available in January of 1977.
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