The Canadian stock market continued to slide for a second consecutive day on Thursday, as investors continued to assess the possibility of a recession amid interest rate hikes. As a result, the TSX Composite Index fell 73 points, or 0.4%, for the session to settle at 19,460.
While mining and tech stocks staged a minor recovery, big losses in the key stock market sectors like healthcare, energy, and utilities drove the index downward.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Shares of ECN Capital (TSX:ECN) tanked 16.7% to $2.75 per share, making it the worst performer on the Toronto Stock Exchange for the day. This selloff in ECN stock came a day after the Toronto-headquartered financials the company released its disappointing fourth-quarter results.
In the December quarter, ECN Capital posted a 24 % year-over-year decline in its revenue to USD$52.5 million. To add pessimism, the company’s adjusted quarterly earnings plunged 67% from a year ago to US$0.02 per share. On a year-to-date basis, ECN stock now trades with 1.1% year-to-date losses.
Shares of Capstone Copper, Cenovus Energy, and BRP were also among the worst performers on the TSX, as they plunged by at least 4.6% each.
On the positive side, Torex Gold Resources, Osisko Mining, Converge Technology, Fortuna Silver Mines, and Jamieson Wellness were the top-performing TSX stocks for the day, as they inched up by at least 3.9% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, Suncor Energy, Cenovus Energy, TC Energy, and Manulife Financial were the most heavily traded stocks on the exchange on March 23.
TSX today
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures and base metals prices were trading on a bearish note early Friday morning, pointing to a lower open for the commodity-heavy TSX Composite benchmark today. Besides domestic retail sales data, Canadian investors may want to closely monitor the durable goods orders numbers from the U.S. market this morning.
Overall, the stock market may remain volatile due to economic uncertainties and ongoing turmoil in the banking sector.
