TSX Ends Marginally Down After Choppy Ride

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended marginally down after a choppy session on Wednesday with investors largely making cautious moves.

In addition to digesting the data on Canadian inflation, investors closely followed the developments on the geopolitical front following a missile blast in Poland.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended lower by 36.82 points or 0.18% at 19,957.96 after scaling a low of 19,897.26 and a high of 20,011.58 intraday.

Energy, healthcare and materials shares ended weak, while shares from consumer staples, industrials and consumer discretionary sectors posted strong gains.

Data from Statistics Canada showed Canada's annual inflation rate came in unchanged at 6.9% in October, and that was in line with expectations.

The core inflation rate slowed to 5.8% from 6% in the previous period. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose by 0.7%, picking up from 0.1% in September.

A report from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed housing starts in Canada dropped by 11% over month earlier to 267,055 units in October.

First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Methanex Corporation (MX.TO), Goeasy (GSY.TO) and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) ended lower by 3.3 to 6.5%.

Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO), Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO), Nutrien (NTR.TO), West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO) and Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) also declined sharply.

Stelco Holdings (STLC.TO) climbed nearly 11%. The company reported adjusted net income of $163 million and adjusted net income per share of $2.40 in the third quarter of this financial year, down 74% from Q3 2021 and 54% from Q2 2022.

Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) surged more than 7%. Ag Growth International (AFN.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) and CCL Industries (CCL.B.TO) gained 2.7 to 4.3%.

Metro Inc (MRU.TO) surged 2.75%. The company reported net earnings of $168.7 million in the fourth quarter, down 13.0% from a year ago. Adjusted net earnings came in at $219 .4 million in the latest quarter, up 9.4% over the year-ago quarter.

Loblaw Companies Ltd (L.TO) shares climbed 2.35%. Loblow reported adjusted net earnings of $663 million in the third quarter of this financial year, an increase of $123 million, or 22.8%, over the year-ago quarter.