Canadian Stocks Close Little Changed Following Lackluster Session

(RTTNews) - Following the steep drop seen in the previous session, Canadian stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Wednesday.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before closing down 16.00 points or 0.1 percent to 20,158.14.

The choppy trading on the day came as traders kept an eye on activity in the U.S. bond markets following the recent surge by treasury yields.

Treasury yields pulled back early in the session but moved slightly higher as the day progressed, with the ten-year yield inching up to a new three-month closing high.

Despite the lackluster close by the broader market, consumer staples stocks turned in a strong performance, driving the S&P/TSX Capped Consumer Staples Index up by 2 percent.

Energy stocks also turned in a strong performance, with the S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index climbing by 1 percent even as the price of crude oil moved lower on the day.

On the other hand, technology stocks saw continued weakness on the day, dragging the S&P/TSX Capped Information Technology Index down by 1.8 percent.

Healthcare and gold stocks also saw notable weakness, offsetting the strength seen in the aforementioned sectors.

In economic news, a report from Statistics Canada said the Industrial Product Price Index declined 0.3 percent month-over-month in August but was up 14.3 percent year-over-year.

The Raw Materials Price Index also decreased 2.4 percent month-over-month in August yet spiked 27.7 percent compared with the same month in 2020.