TSX Ends Moderately Lower After Fed Raises Interest Rate And Signals More Hikes

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended on a weak note on Wednesday with investors digesting the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision and the accompanying statement.

After raising interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point at four consecutive meetings, the Fed today slowed the pace of rate increases but still signaled further rate hikes.

In a widely expected move, the Fed announced its decision to raise interest rates by 50 basis points, or half a percentage point, to a target range of 4.25 to 4.50%.

The Fed expects inflation to remain elevated in 2023. Consumer price growth is expected to slow to 3.1% next year from 5.6% this year, but that is still up from the 2.8% forecast in September and well above the Fed's 2% target.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 131.81 points or 0.66% at 19,891.65. The index, which advanced to 20,081.79 in early trades, touched a low of 19,863.98 in the final hour.

Healthcare, financials, utilities and consumer staples shares shed ground, while shares from the rest of the sectors ended mixed.

Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO), BCE Inc (BCE.TO), TC Energy Corporation (TRP.TO), Kinross Gold Corporation (K.TO), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) lost 1 to 2.5% on strong volumes.

Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) ended lower by more than 5%. Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.TO), Methanex Corporation (MX.TO), Stelco Holdings (STLC.TO) and Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO) lost 3 to 4%.

CCL Industries (CCL.A.TO), Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO), Nutrien (NTR.TO), George Weston (WN.TO) and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) also ended notably lower.

Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) climbed 2.6% and Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) surged 1.86%, on strong volumes.

First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), ATS Corporation (ATS.TO), Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO), Atco Ltd (ACO.Y.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.A.TO), Dollarama (DOL.TO), Rogers Communications (RCI.B.TO) and Onex Corporation (ONEX.TO) also posted notable gains.

In economic news, manufacturing sales in Canada rose 2.8% month-over-month in October of 2022, compared to the preliminary estimate of 2% and following an upwardly revised 0.1% increase in the prior month.