Canadian Market Down In Negative Territory At Noon

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is turning in a mixed performance on Monday with investors, looking ahead to some crucial economic data this week, making largely cautious moves.

Utilities and materials shares are among the major losers. Technology stocks are finding some support, while shares from the rest of the sectors are mixed.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 57.31 points or 0.27% at 21,355.84 a few minutes before noon.

In the utilities section, Emera Incorporated (EMA.TO) is down more than 3%. The company reported 2023 fourth-quarter net income of $175 million, or $0.63 per common share, compared with $249 million, or $0.93 per common share, in the fourth quarter of the previous year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp (AQN.TO), Brookfield Infra Partners (BIP.UN.TO) and TransAlta Corp (TA.TO) are down 2 to 3%. AltaGas (ALA.TO), Superior Plus (SPB.TO) and Fortis (FTS.TO) are also down sharply.

Materials stock K92 Mining Inc (KNT.TO) is plunging nearly 11%. Orla Mining (OLA.TO) is down nearly 7%. Lundin Gold (LUG.TO), Ero Copper (ERO.TO), Canfor Corp (CFP.TO) and Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) are down 3 to 4.2%.

Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO) is down by about 3.7%. Ivanhoe Mines said it recorded a profit of $303 million in 2023, equivalent to $0.26 per share, and normalized profit of $388 million, equivalent to $0.33 per share.

Cargojet Inc. (CJT.TO) is down 2.5%. The company reported fourth-quarter loss of C$34.9 million or C$2.04 per share compared with earnings of C$2.6 million or C$0.15 per share in the last year.

Technology stock Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO) is soaring more than 13%. Bitfarms (BITF.TO) is gaining 12.5%. Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO) is up 4.3%, and Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) is rising 2.7%. Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO) and Copperleaf Technologies (CPLF.TO) are advancing 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively.

On the economic front, Canada's manufacturing sales likely rose 0.4% in January, rebounding from a 0.7% fall in the previous month, according to preliminary estimats. Meanwhile, wholesale sales likely shrank by 0.6% month-over-month in January, after a 0.3% increase in the previous month, preliminary estimates showed.