By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com -- The TSX traded in the red at midday, tracking Wall Street sharply lower as investors reacted to yesterday’s 50 basis point hike and hawkish stance from the US Federal Reserve. While investors had been hoping for indications of a pivot or pause on interest rates next year, the Fed projected continued rate hikes to above 5% in 2023, a level not seen since 2007.
Oil prices meanwhile reversed this week’s rally as worries of demand destruction driven by hawkish central banks globally. Oil prices were also pressured by the restart of part of the Keystone pipeline, a major pipeline transporting Western Canadian crude to the US midwest and Gulf Coast.
The part of the pipeline that was unaffected by last week's oil leak in Kansas has returned to operations, while the portion of the pipeline affected by the spill remains shut down.
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Travel company Transat A.T. Inc., the parent company of Air Transat reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $126.2 million compared with a loss of $121.3 million in the same quarter last year. The loss amounted to $3.32 per diluted share, compared with a loss of $3.21 per diluted share a year ago. Revenue totalled $573.1 million, up from $62.8 million in the same quarter last year.
An Ontario court has now acquitted three executives at CannTrust Holidngs charged with offences linked to unlicensed growing. The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) revealed yesterday that it no longer had a reasonable prospect of convicting executives Peter Aceto, Eric Paul and Mark Litwin. The three men had been each charged with fraud and authorizing, permitting or acquiescing in the commission of an offence.
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In Canadian Economics
Canada's banking regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, will maintain the interest rest used to qualify uninsured mortgages for key stress tests. Uninsured mortgages include most residential mortgages, defined as residential mortgages with a down payment of 20% or more. The minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages will remain the greater of the mortgage contract rate plus two percentage points or 5.25%.
The Canadian Real Estate Association says seasonally adjusted home sales fell 3.3% on a month-over-month basis in November. Compared with a year ago, actual home sales in November were down 38.9%. About 60% of all Canadian Markets saw lower sales in November, led by Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, Edmonton, the Greater Toronto Area and Montreal.
More news in Canadian housing - Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in November fell 0.2% month over month. Housing starts in November were at 264,159 units, down from 264,581 in October.