By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com – At 12:15 p.m in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was at 19,604.46 points, or down 1.17% in the day’s trading to a nearly 1-year low, as risk sentiment and recessionary concerns continue to drive volatility in markets.
Canada’s benchmark index was weighed down by the heavyweight materials (-3.09%), energy (-1.84%), and financial (-2.11%) sectors.
The energy subindex tracked the price of crude lower on concerns of slowing demand, while materials followed weakness in bullion and the price of copper. Copper, considered a benchmark for economic sentiment due to its widespread use in a range of critical industries, fell today to a seven-month low.
Financials meanwhile were pressured by downbeat earnings from insurance companies Manulife Financial (TSX:MFC) and Sun Life Financial (TSX:SLF). Manulife was also one of the worst-performing stocks on the TSX today.
Industrials (-0.11%), Utilities (-0.96%), Telecom (-1.24%), and Clean Tech (-0.42%) were also in the red at midday, while Consumer Discretionary (+1.82%) Consumer Staples (+1.41%), Health Care (+3.11%), Info Tech (+1.97%), Real Estate (+1.35%) and REITs (+1.63%) were in the green.
While tech stocks typically suffer in a risk-off environment, the Canadian technology subindex was lifted by Shopify (TSX:SHOP) (+11.48%), the top-performing stock on the TSX today after several executives announced their plan to buy shares in a move designed to raise investor confidence in the company.
Apart from Shopify cannabis stocks Canopy Growth Corp (TSX:WEED) (+8.70%), Tilray (TSX:TLRY) (+7.36%), and Aurora Cannabis (TSX:ACB) (+6.10%) were the best performers on the TSX today, ahead of earnings expected from Aurora. Canada Goose Holdings Inc (TSX:GOOS) (+7.36%) was also a top performer.
The biggest losers on the TSX today included Cascades (TSX:CAS) Inc (-18.84%), Docebo Inc (TSX:DCBO) (-14.76%), Manulife Financial (-14.76%), Converge Technology Solutions Corp (TSX:CTS) (-9.84%), and iA Financial Corporation Inc (TSX:IAG) (-9.37%).