Canadian Shares Extending Losses As Growth Worries Weight On Sentiment

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are down in negative territory around noon on Friday, extending recent losses, amid fears about a global economic recession.

Energy, healthcare and utilities shares are among the major losers. Industrials, real estate and communications shares are also mostly down in negative territory.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 204.25 points or 1.04% 19,396.36 a little before noon.

The HealthCare Capped Index is down 3.56%. Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) is plunging nearly 8%, Bellus Health Inc (BLU.TO) is down 4.8% and Chartwell Retirement Residences (CSH.UN.TO) is declining nearly 3%. Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) is down 1.7%.

The Energy Capped Index is down 3%. Arc Resources (ARX.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO) and Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO) are down 2 to 5%.

In the utilities section, Algonquin Power and Utilities Corp (AQN.TO), Innergex Renewable Energy (INE.TO), Altagas (ALA.TO), Northland Power (NPI.TO) and Hydro One (H.TO) are down 2 to 5%.

In economic news, data from Statistics Canada showed new home prices for Canada declined 0.2% month-over-month in November of 2022, the same as in October, and marking a third consecutive month of declines. House prices in Canada increased 4.1% year-on-year in November, the smallest increase since October 2020.

Another data from Statistics Canada showed wholesale sales in Canada rose by 2.1% from a month earlier to reach a record-high of C$83.4 billion in October of 2022, revised from preliminary estimates of a 1.3% increase and compared to the 0.2% fall in the prior month.