By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com –
The TSX tracked Wall Street lower today, with pessimism becoming further entrenched as earnings season rolls on and bellwether companies, including Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), reporting dour outlooks for the year ahead.
The commodity heavy Canadian index gained some support from a rebound in oil prices after a slew of refinery outages, including an unexpected PBF Energy refinery in Louisiana, and an Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) refinery in Texas.
The Biggest Stories on Bay Street
One hurdle has now been definitely cleared in the Shaw-Rogers-Freedom Mobile-Quebecor deal. The Competition Bureau has said it will not be appealing the Federal Court’s decision after its motion to block the Rogers-Shaw merger was rejected yesterday. The $26 billion merger deal will now proceed to Industry Minister François-Phillipe Champagne for final approval.
Cenvous CEO Alex Pourbaix estimates the Canadian oil sands industry will pay somewhere between $10 billion and $12 billion in federal taxes this year, and rejected calls by the Federal government for the industry to contribute further in tax revenue to the government. The companies are looking to spend $24 billion by 2030 on emissions cutting, including two-thirds of that on carbon capture and storage systems. “We’re not yet at the point where we can invest billions in these projects,” Pourbaix said, noting, “I think we are already contributing significantly,” and that companies are moving “as aggressively as (they) can.” on these projects.
Canadian National Railway (TSX:CNR) Co. announced profits of $1.42 billion in the three months ended Dec. 31, 2022, up from $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021.Earnings worked out to $2.10 per share, a 23 per cent increase year over year. Revenues were at $4.54 billion, an increase of $789 million or 21% compared to this time last year. For the full year 2022, CN reported net income of $5.12 billion, up from $$.90 billion in 2021.
Shopify (TSX:SHOP) announced it is increasing its pricing for its Basic, Shopify, and Advanced plans, leading to an upgrade from Oppenheimer and sending shares higher. Existing merchants won't see a price change for three months but new merchants will see the updated pricing in effect immediately.
Canadian Stocks Moving Markets Today
Top Gainers:
- Shopify
- Silvercrest Metals
- Fortuna Silver (TSX:FVI)
Top Losers:
- Canadian National Railways
- Advantage Oil and Gas
- Teck Resources (TSX:TECKa) B
In Canadian Economics
The BoC hiked its benchmark overnight interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.5%, its highest level in 15 years, and said it would likely pause as it awaits the effect of the cumulative interest rates to trickle through the economy. In a statement accompanying its decision, the Bank of Canada hinted noted that "if economic developments evolve broadly in line with outlook, [the bank] expects to hold the policy rate at its current level while it assesses the impact of the cumulative interest rate increases."