TSX Drifts Lower In Cautious Trade As Investors Await Rate Decisions

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market traded weak Monday morning with stocks swinging between gains and losses in cautious trade as investors awaited the monetary policy announcements from the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

While the Fed is widely expected to lower interest rate by 25 basis points, the Canadian central bank is unlikely to lower its rate following a fairly strong jobs data.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 91.70 points or 0.3% at 31,219.91 a few minutes past noon.

Communicatons and healthcare stocks showed weakness, while a few stocks from industrials and technology stocks found some support. Energy and materials stocks were mostly subdued due to weak commodity prices.

Communications stocks Rogers Communications, Quebecor and BCE Inc. lost 2.5%, 1.7% and 1.4%, respectively.

Dye & Durham, the top performer in the Technology Index, soared 28%. Celestica surged nearly 4%, while Blackberry and Enghouse Systems advanced by 1% and 0.5%, respectively.

Healthcare stock Curaleaf Holdings shed about 4.4%. Sienna Senior Living drifted down by about 0.7%.

Industrials stocks Tfi International, Canadian Pacific Railway, Finning International, Canadian National Railway, Gfl Environmental, Stantec, Ats Corp., and Aecon Group moved up 1 to 2.5%.