By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com – The Canadian index traded flat in late afternoon trading, gaining some support from crude prices, which surged on Russia’s plan to cut output by 500,000 bpd in March, as retaliation for the West’s imposition of price caps on Russian crude.
The Canadian index was pressured by today’s blockbuster domestic jobs data, that fuelled worries the Bank of Canada would reconsider its “conditional pause” due to continued, accelerating, and unexpected strength in labour markets.
Wall Street meanwhile traded in the red as treasury yields rose and investors continued to confront the prospect of a still aggressive Fed.
The Biggest Stories on Bay Street
It’s a busy day on Bay Street, with earnings seasons in full swing.
Magna International Inc (TSX:MG) reported a nearly 80% slump in its quarterly profit, , says it earned US$95 million or 33 cents per share in the quarter ended Dec. 31, down from US$464 million or US$1.54 per diluted share in the last three months of 2021. Sales totalled US$9.57 billion, up from US$9.11 billion a year earlier. Magna also raised its quarterly dividend by a penny to 46 cents per share.
Fortis (TSX:FTS) Inc. reported a fourth-quarter profit of $370 million, up from $328 million a year earlier. The profit amounted to 77 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, up from 69 cents per share this time last year. Revenue for the quarter totalled $3.17 billion, up from $2.58 billion this time last year..Fortis announced a five-year capital plan to spend $22.3 billion., designed to support dividend growth guidance for between 4% and 6% annually for full year 2023.
Enbridge Inc (TSX:ENB). reported a loss of $1.1 billion in its latest quarter, with the loss amounted to 53 cents per share for the quarter ended Dec. 31 compared with a profit of $1.8 billion or 91 cents per share this time. Enbridge noted that the loss was due to to a $2.5-billion non-cash goodwill impairment charge related to its gas transmission business due to the increased cost of capital. Enbridge also reaffirmed 2023 financial guidance, including adjusted EBITDA between $15.9 billion and $16.5 billion.
Aurora Cannabis (TSX:ACB) reported a net loss of for the quarter ended December 31 of $67.2 million, compared with a net loss of $75.1 million for the same period in the prior year. Aurora attributed the shrinking net loss to forex gains, lower operating expenses and reduced property, plant and equipment charges.Net revenues however was little changed at $61.7 million compared with $60.6 million a year before.
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In Canadian Economics
Statistics Canada reports that Canadian employment smashed expectations once again, adding 150,000 jobs in January - 10 times the expectation for the 15,000 job additions expected by economists.
January’s figure was also more than double the 70,000 jobs added in December, indicating that job growth is actually accelerating, instead of the cooldown expected by the Bank of Canada as it raised interest rates 8 consecutive times in the last 10 months.