Canadian Stocks Down Firmly In Negative Territory, Set To End On Weak Note

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is down firmly in negative territory Friday afternoon, and with several stocks from across various sectors reeling under sustained selling pressure, looks headed for a weak close.

Data showing a stronger than expected increase in U.S. non-farm payroll employment in the month of May has raised concerns the Fed would aggressively tighten its monetary policy next week.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which dropped to 20,756.18, was down 210.02 points or 1% at 20,821.79 a little while ago.

Technology, healthcare, consumer discretionary and materials shares are down sharply, dragging the respective sectoral indices down by 3.7%, 3.1%, 2.1% and 1.6%, respectively.

In the technology section, Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) is plunging more than 11%. Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO), Haivision Systems (HAI.TO), Quarterhill (QTRH.TO), Magnet Forensics (MAGT.TO), BlackBerry (BB.TO) and Hut 8 Mining (HUT.TO) are down 4 to 7%.

Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO), down 8.1%, is the biggest loser in the Healthcare Index. Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) and Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) are down 5.2% and 4.8%, respectively.

Among consumer discretionary stocks, Brp Inc (DOO.TO) is down more than 10% after the company reported a sharp drop in earnings. BRP reported net income of $121.0 million for the quarter ended April 30, 2022, compared with net income of $244.4 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

Martinrea International (MRE.TO) is down 7.4%. Magna International (MG.TO), Sleep Country Canada Holdings (ZZZ.TO), Spin Master Corp (TOY.TO) and Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) are down 2 to 3%.

Materials stocks Ero Copper (ERO.TO), Alamos Gold (AGI.TO), Fortuna Silver Mines (FVI.TO) and MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO) are down 3.3 to 5%.

Among the gainers, West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO) is rising more than 6%. Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Boralex (BLX.TO), Sierra Wireless (SW.TO), Loblaw Companies (L.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.A.TO), Cargojet (CJT.TO) and Metro Inc (MRU.TO) are up 1 to 3.5%.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed labour productivity in Canada declined by 0.5% in the first quarter of 2022, easing from an upwardly revised 0.6% fall in the previous quarter.