By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com — At noon in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite index was at 21,922.3 points, down 0.35% in the day’s trading.
Canada’s main stock index was lower at midday as Canadian equities were hit by rising yields, and weighed down by the heavyweight materials sector (-3.53%),.
The subindex tracked gold prices lower, as the safe-haven metal was hit by rising treasury yields. Investors will focus on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech later in the day for clues on monetary policy tightening plans, with many expecting the U.S. central bank to raise rates by 50 basis points to control soaring inflation.
Despite its heavy tilt to energy and financials, gains in these sectors were unable to help the TSX eke out into positive territory. The energy sector climbed 0.7%, as oil prices rose again, as an impending EU ban on Russian oil and tight supply from Libya took precedence over macro demand concerns following a cut to global growth forecasts this year.
Financials meanwhile, benefited from surging yields today, as rising interest rates, in both the Canada and the U.S. help banks widen interest rate margins in operations across both countries.
Financials (+0.82%), energy (+0.07%), and consumer discretionary (+0.42%) were the only TSX sectors in the green so far today, while all other subindexes were in the red.
The biggest gainers on the TSX so far today included Mullen Group (TSX:MTL) (+6.31%), Secure Energy Services Inc . (TSX:SES) (+5.65%), Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd (TSX:TVE) (+4.09%) and TFI International Inc (TSX:TFII) (+2.20%).
Lithium Americas Corp (TSX:LAC)(-9.24%), Transcontinental Inc (TSX:TCLa)(-7.82%), Energy Fuels Inc (TSX:EFR) (-7.78%), Endeavour Silver (TSX:EDR) (-7.20%), and New Gold Inc (TSX:NGD) (-6.93%) were amongst the biggest losers on the TSX as of midday today.