TSX Down Sharply As Inflation Data Weighs

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is down sharply on Tuesday due to widespread selling after data showing an acceleration in consumer price inflation raised concerns about interest rate hikes.

Data from Statistics Canada showed that the consumer price index rose 4% year over year in August, following a 3.3% increase in July. Economists had expected a 3.8% increase.

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.6%, unchanged from the previous month. Core CPI, excluding food and energy, eased to 0.3% from 0.4% last month.

Mirroring widespread selling, all the sectoral indices are down in negative territory. Healthcare, materials, technology, industrials, energy and utilities shares are down sharply.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 251.59 points or 1.22% at 20,241.24.

ATS Corporation (ATS.TO) is down more than 6%. Cameco Corporation (CCO.TO), Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO), Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) are down 2.5 to 4%.

Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) is down more than 8%. Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) is lower by about 3.2%.

Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) is down 4.2%. Materials stock Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.TO) is plunging more than 19%. Lithium Americas Corp (LAC.TO), First Majestic Silver Corp (FR.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) and Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO) are down 4 to 6.5%.

Energy stocks Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Africa Oil Corp (AOI.TO) and Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) are down 2 to 3.4%.

Fortis Inc. (FTS,FTS.TO) is down 2.3% after the company announced its 2024-2028 capital plan of C$25.0 billion. The five-year capital plan is expected to increase midyear rate base from C$36.8 billion in 2023 to C$49.4 billion by 2028, translating into a five-year compound annual growth rate of 6.3% on a constant foreign exchange basis.

Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE) said on Tuesday that it has increased its previously announced Pool 2 maximum notes offering to $500 million from $250 million. The stock is down by about 1.5%.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB.TO) is gaining 2.6%. The cannabis producer announced today that it has received approval to transfer the listing of its shares to the Nasdaq Capital Market from the Nasdaq Global Select Market, with effect from September 19.

The transfer is expected to allow the firm to seek an additional 180 days to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement for its Nasdaq listing.