Canadian stocks started the new week on a slightly negative note as investors turned cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate decision and a fresh slate of economic data due later this week. After rallying for four consecutive weeks, the S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped by 78 points, or 0.3%, on Monday to settle at 24,954.
While strengthening gold and silver prices offered support to mining stocks, losses in most other sectors like healthcare, energy, and real estate weighed on the broader index.
Top Composite movers and active stocks
Bausch Health, SECURE Waste Infrastructure, Baytex Energy, and Allied Properties REIT were the worst-performing TSX stocks, with each falling by over 5%.
In contrast, Parkland (TSX:PKI) jumped by 5.5% to $38.28 per share after announcing it will be acquired by Sunoco in a cash-and-equity deal valued at US$9.1 billion, including debt. The market cheered the 25% premium offered to Parkland shareholders and Sunoco’s commitment to maintaining Canadian operations.
After the market closing bell, Parkland also announced a strong adjusted net profit of $64 million for the first quarter, beating Street analysts’ expectations of $60.5 million due partly to a rebound at its Burnaby Refinery. Despite a volatile macro backdrop, Parkland investors appeared optimistic about the combined company’s growth potential and synergies.
Bird Construction, G Mining Ventures, and SSR Mining also climbed by at least 4.6% each, making them among the session’s top gainers on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Based on their daily trade volume, Enbridge, Suncor Energy, Manulife Financial, Canadian Natural Resources, and TD Bank were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices across the board, including crude oil, gold, and silver, were trading on a firm note in early trading on Tuesday, pointing to a higher opening for the resource-heavy main TSX index today.
Canadian investors may want to keep an eye on the latest domestic purchasing managers index data this morning, which could offer fresh insights into the health of the country’s services sector.
With several TSX-listed companies, including Suncor Energy, Sienna Senior Living, Dream Industrial REIT, First Capital REIT, SSR Mining, Intact Financial, Boardwalk REIT, Brookfield Asset Management, IAMGOLD, George Weston, Colliers International, and Pet Valu, set to release earnings today, corporate results could provide further direction.