TSX Ends Sharply Lower On Interest Rate Worries

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended sharply lower on Friday as fairly strong jobs data from the U.S. and Canada fueled concerns about aggressive interest rate hikes by the central banks of the two countries in the coming months.

As worries about inflation and economic slowdown continued to weigh, investors chose to exit counters and stayed wary of picking up stocks even at lower levels.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 395.88 points or 2.09% at 18,583.13, after hitting a low of 18,522.55.

Data from Statistics Canada showed the Canadian economy added 21,100 jobs in September of 2022, slightly higher than expectations of 20,000 jobs gained and marking the first rise in employment since May.

The unemployment rate in Canada dropped to 5.2% in September from 5.4% in the previous month.

The U.S. Labor Department's data showed non-farm payroll employment jumped by 263,000 jobs in September after surging by an unrevised 315,000 jobs in August and spiking by an upwardly revised 537,000 jobs in July. Economists had expected employment to leap by 250,000 jobs.

The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate dipped to 3.5% in September from 3.7% in August, while economists expected the unemployment rate to come in unchanged.

A day after scoring hefty gains following U.S. President Joe Biden's announcement of federal pardons for marijuna possession, cannabis stocks tumbled on Friday. The S&P TSX Health Care Capped Index, which has cannabis stocks in its fold, tumbled more than 11%.

Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) plummeted more than 25%. Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) plunged 19% and Cronos Group (CRON.TO) tanked 15.5%.

Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) and Bellus Health Inc (BLU.TO) drifted down 8% and 4.4%, respectively.

The Information Technology Capped Index declined nearly 4.4%. Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO) and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) lost 9.63% and 7.73%, respectively.

Telus International (TIXT.TO) and Hut 8 Mining (HUT.TO) ended lower by 7.8% amd 7.5%, respectively. Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO), Alithya Group (ALYA.TO), BlackBerry (BB.TO) and Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO) lost 5 to 6%.

Lithium Americas Corp (LAC.TO), down 13%, was the biggest loser in the materials section. Endeavour Silver Corp (EDR.TO), Oceanagold (OGC.TO), First Majestic Silver Corp (FR.TO), Fortuna Silver Mines (FVI.TO), Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.TO) and Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO) lost 8 to 10%.

Among consumer discretionary stocks, Mty Food Group (MTY.TO) ended nearly 7% down.

Magna International (MG.TO), Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO), Brp Inc (DOO.TO) and Gildan Activewear (GIL.TO) lost 3 to 5%.

In the industrials space, Richelieu Hardware (RCH.TO) tanked 7.6%. Gfl Environmental (GFL.TO) lost 7.1%. Cargojet (CJT.TO), Toromont Industries (TIH.TO), Westshore Terminals Investment Corp (WTE.TO) and Snc-Lavalin (SNC.TO) ended lower by 3.5 to 5.3%.

Among financials, Onex Corp (ONEX.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) lost 2 to 3%.

Energy stocks closed on a mixed note. Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) and MEG Energy (MEG.TO) gained 1.5 to 3%.