Canadian Market Down Marginally As Investors Look For Direction

(RTTNews) - After a weak start and a subsequent rebound into positive territory, the Canadian market is down marginally a little past noon on Monday with investors largely making cautious moves amid rising fears about a global recession.

Shares from energy and utilities sections are sharply lower. Healthcare stocks are up with strong gains. Several stocks from technology section are also notably higher. A few stocks from consumer discretionary and industrials sectors are finding good support.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 31.88 points or 0.17% at 18,449.10. The index advanced to 18,603.47 after opening at 18,402.52.

MEG Energy Corp (MEG.TO) and Baytex Energy (BTE.TO) are down 5.4% and 5.1%, respectively, on huge volumes.

Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) are declining 2 to 3.1%.

Air Canada (AC.TO) is gaining nearly 2%. Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) is up by about 1.4%, and Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO) is advancing 1.3%. Manulife Financial (MFC.TO) and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) are up with moderate gains.

On the economic front, preliminary data shows wholesale sales in Canada rose by 0.8% month-over-month in August of 2022, mainly reflecting higher sales in the food, beverage and tobacco subsector, Statistics Canada said.