By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com – The TSX tracked Wall Street lower at midday, as North American equities retreated following hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as he testified before the Senate Banking Committee at the start of his half yearly testimony to Congress.
“The latest economic data have come in stronger than expected, which suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated," Powell commented, adding that "If the totality of the data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted, we would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes”.
The commodity heavy Canadian index was most pressured by materials and energy stocks, as base metals and crude prices reacted to the Fed Chair’s comments.
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BlackBerry (TSX:BB) announced revenue forecasts for its fourth quarter and the full fiscal year 2023 that fell well below analyst expectations. Preliminary fiscal year 2023 revenue for BlackBerry is estimated to be approximately $656 million. The company also said it expects fourth-quarter revenue of approximately $151 million, below the analyst consensus of $163.5 million. The company said late Monday also announced that fourth-quarter results would include a goodwill impairment charge of up to $440 million for its Spark business.
Pet Valu Holdings (TSX:PET) Ltd. raised its dividend as it reported a profit of $25.9 million in its latest quarter, down from $26.7 million a year earlier, amounting to 36 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, down from 37 cents per diluted share a year earlier. Revenue totalled $266.0 million, up from $223.1 million in the same quarter a year earlier, helped by higher retail sales, and the company's acquisition of Les Franchises Chico Inc. The company also announced it will raise its quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share, up from six cents per share.
A day after proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis recommended that shareholders reject Ritchie Bros Auctioneers (TSX:RBA)’s planned $7 billion acquisition o fIAA Inc, another proxy advisory firm Egan-Jones is recommending shareholders of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc . support the deal. Egan-Jones urged that the deal outweighs the benefits of remaining as a stand-alone company and will support shareholder value creation and maximization in the long-run.
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