By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com – The TSX tracked Wall Street lower at midday on banking sector worries, as First Republic Bank continued to slide, as $30 billion pledged in support by major banks failed to soothe investors. SVB Financial meanwhile filed for bankruptcy protection earlier today.
The commodity heavy Canadian index was also pressured by crude prices, set to close 15% lower for the week - marking their largest decline since April 2020 in the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (TSX:CP). confirmed its takeover of Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU), effective April 14. The deal, announced after the U.S. Surface Transportation Board approved the US$27 billion sale earlier this week, will create a new company Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), a single-lane railway connecting the U.S., Mexico and Canada. CP Rail also announced that Keith Creel, current president and CEO of CP, will be CEO of the new company.
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), historically one of the top performers amongst Canada’s big pension funds, posted a loss in 2022 for the first time in 14 years. The plan posted a loss of 8.60% on its investment portfolio, cutting its assets to $103.7 billion at year end. The plan also dipped to its lowest level of funding since 2014. However, the funding ratio, which compares current assets with the future benefits it owes members stood at 117% compared to 120% this time last year.
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Spanish energy firm Repsol (BME:REP) is giving up on its plan to potentially expand its import facility near Saint John, N.B. to also export LNG. The move comes after a feasibility study showed the it would be too costly to convert existing infrastructure to bring gas in from Western Canada.
Canadian home prices fell 0.3% in February from January, as prices dropped in seven of the 11 major markets, Teranet–National Bank National Composite House Price data showed. The increase compared to a1.1% decrease recorded in January over December. Home prices were down 4.7% year over year.
Statistics Canada reports that prices of products manufactured in Canada, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), declined 0.8% month over month in February and rose 1.4% year over year. Prices of raw materials purchased by manufacturers operating in Canada, as measured by the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI), decreased 0.4% on a monthly basis in February and were down 5.2% year over year.