By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com – At midday in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was at 18,994.45 points, down 0.36% in the day’s trading as North American indices reacted to today’s robust U.S. jobs data, that paves the path for another 75 basis point hike from the Federal Reserve later this month.
Canadian jobs data, also released today, painted a more mixed picture but is unlikely to deter the Bank of Canada from a likely 75 basis point hike on the 13th of July as the Canadian central bank remains committed to acting forcefully to tackle inflation, even at the risk of a recession and job losses.
All TSX sectors barring consumer discretionary (+0.34%) and clean tech (+0.39%) were in the red at midday, as investors brace for aggressive policy tightening on both sides of the border.
Materials (-1.28%) most weighed on the commodity heavy index was also weighed a continued decline in copper, as mass COVID-19 testing in Shanghai this week raised concerns of renewed lockdowns in the industrial metal’s top consumer China.
Heavyweight energy (-1.11%) also weighed on the Canadian index as, despite moderate gains in crude at midday, the commodity remains set for a weekly decline as concern over potential recession-driven demand destruction outweighed worries of tight global supplies.
Canadian miners were amongst the biggest losers on the TSX today, including First Quantum (-8.91%), Capstone Mining (-8.98%), Hudbay Minerals (-7.44%), and Filo Mining (-5.23%). Trisura (TSX:TSU) was also a top loser today (-5.37%).
Today’s biggest gainers included Converge Tech (TSX:CTS) (+3.89%), Aritizia (+2.13%), Yamana Gold (TSX:YRI) (+2.81%), Interfor Corp (TSX:IFP) (+2.58%) and Aecon Group Inc (+2.38%).