Canadian stocks eased from record highs on Friday as investors took profits following a week of strong gains driven by upbeat U.S. economic data and rising prospects of Fed rate cuts in the near term. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 73 points, or 0.3%, on the day to close at 27,314, but still wrapped up the week with a gain of more than 1%.
While consumer staples and utility stocks saw renewed buying, sharp declines in some sectors like consumer discretionary, healthcare, and industrials due to profit-taking dragged the TSX benchmark lower.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Endeavour Silver, Magna Internationaland BlackBerry were the worst-performing TSX stocks for the day, with each slipping by at least 2.7%.
On the flip side, G Mining Ventures, MDA Spaceand Headwater Exploration inched up by 3.8% each, making them the session’s top-performing TSX stocks.
Based on their daily trade volume, Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus Energy, Whitecap Resources, Royal Bank of Canadaand TC Energy were the most active stocks on the exchange.
In a key development, after Friday’s market closing bell, Brookfield Renewable Partners (Tsx: bep.un) announced plans to invest up to US$1 billion to raise its equity stake in Colombia-based Isagen to about 38%.
The move, which also involves an additional US$500 million investment from co-investor Qatar Investment Authority, is expected to immediately boost Brookfield’s funds from operations per unit. Given that, Brookfield Renewable stock could remain in focus today, with investors reacting to the potential long-term benefits of the Isagen deal and its impact on its near-term earnings.
TSX today
Metals prices across the board trended higher in early trading on Monday. At the same time, however, crude oil and natural gas prices slipped, signalling a mixed start for the commodity-heavy TSX index.
With no major economic reports due today, Canadian investors will remain focused on expectations for the second-quarter corporate earnings season, set to ramp up later this week, and steer short-term market moves.