TSX Snaps 5-day Winning Streak, Ends Moderately Lower

(RTTNews) - After five successive days of gains, the Canadian market turned in a weak performance on Wednesday with stocks from industrials and communications sectors declining sharply.

Technology and financials shares were also a bit weak.

Investors digested Canadian retail sales data, and a slew of corporate earnings updates, and awaited crucial U.S. personal income & spending data.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which tumbled to 21,796.88 about an hour past noon, ended with a loss of 138.00 points or 0.63% at 21,873.72.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO) drifted down 6.3% after reporting first-quarter net profit of $774 million, compared to $800 million a year ago.

Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) dropped about 4.8%. The company reported first-quarter net income of $1,103 million, compared to net income of $1,220 million in the year-ago quarter.

TFI International (TFII.TO), Cogeco Inc (CGO.TO), Bombardier Inc (BBD.A.TO) and Cogeco Communications (CCA.TO) lost 3.3 to 4.4%.

Rogers Communications (RCI.B.TO) ended 3.3% down. The company reported first-quarter net income of $256 million, compared to $511 million a year ago. Adjusted net income was $540 million in the latest quarter, down slightly from $553 million in the year-ago quarter. The stock is down more than 3%.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Molson Coors Canada Inc (TPX.B.TO) and Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO) also ended notably lower.

Winpak (WPK.TO) surged more than 7%. Softchoice Corporation (SFTC.TO) climbed 4.4%. Seabridge Gold (SEA.TO), Newmont Corporation (NGT.TO), Dollarama Inc (DOL.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), Dayforce (DAY.TO) and Loblaw Companies (L.TO) gained 1.3 to 4%.

First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) gained 2.7% after reporting lower net loss for the first quarter. The company reported net loss of $159 million for the first quarter of 2024, compared to net loss of $259 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

On the economic front, retail sales in Canada likely remained unchanged over a month in March 2024, according to preliminary data. In February, retail sales fell by 0.1% from the earlier month. On a yearly basis, retail activity rose by 1.2% in February, after a 0.9% increase in the prior month.

Canada's manufacturing sales likely declined by 2.8% from a month earlier in March 2024, reversing a 0.7% increase in the previous month, according to preliminary estimates.