Canadian Market Modestly Lower At Noon

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is down in negative territory around noon on Thursday with investors taking some profits at several counters.

Materials and energy stocks are among the notable losers. Healthcare shares are finding good support, while shares from the rest of the sectors are turning in a mixed performance.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 75.64 points or 0.36% at 20,940.27 a few minutes before noon.

The index had moved on to a 19-month high on Wednesday with recent inflation data from the U.S. raising hopes the Federal Reserve will cut interest rate in March 2024.

Energy stocks are down on weak crude oil prices amid easing concerns about shipping disruptions along the Red Sea route. International Petroleum Corp (IPCO.TO), Prairiesky Royalty (PSK.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) and Arc Resources (ARX.TO) are down 1 to 1.6%.

Materials shares Iamgold (IMG.TO), Filo Mining (FIL.TO), Ero Copper (ERO.TO), Equinox Gold (EQX.TO), Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Lithium Americas Corp (LAC.TO), Nutrien (NTR.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO) and Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO) are down 1.4 to 3%.

A report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business showed small business sentiment in Canada increased to 47.04 points in December from 45.58 point in November.