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TD Bank Group extends decline
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Canada posts smaller-than-expected trade surplus
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TSX down 0.47%
By Shristi Achar A April 5 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Wednesday as TD Bank extended losses for a second straight session, while the weak U.S. private payrolls data added to worries about a potential recession in the world's largest economy.
At 10:24 a.m. ET (1424 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 95.92 points, or 0.47%, at 20,179.84. "We are entering a new quarter and there are some signs of a growth slowdown," said Angelo Kourkafas, investment strategist at Edward Jones Investments.
"As we think about what happened with the banks over the past month, the market attention will turn to the economic data to gauge the potential fallout from this stress." In the U.S., Wall Street's S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell as weaker-than-expected private payrolls data for March deepened worries that the rapid interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve may tip the U.S. economy into a recession. Toronto-Dominion Bank Group dragged the financial sector down 0.9% after some shareholders on Tuesday urged the bank to abandon or renegotiate its acquisition of U.S. lender First Horizon Commodity-heavy bourse was further pressured by a 0.5% decline in the energy sector and a 1% drop in the materials sector , which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies. The TSX ended first quarter on an upbeat note even as the banking turmoil rattled the global markets. The traders are sticking to bets that the Bank of Canada will hold interest rates at its meeting due next week. Meanwhile, Canada posted a smaller-than-expected trade surplus in February, as both exports and imports recorded widespread declines.
In company news, Bernstein raised its ratings on Canopy Growth to "market-perform" from "underperform". The cannabis producer's stock, however, slipped 1.8%.
Hut 8 Mining Corp's shares were down 2.5% after the crypto miner gave its March production and operations update. (Reporting by Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru; Editing by Shweta Agarwal;)
