(Updated at 1410 GMT)
* TSX down 0.4%%
* Commodity-linked stocks lead declines
* Fed meeting minutes due at 1400 ET
May 22 (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index fell on
Wednesday, pressured by a sell-off in energy and materials
shares tracking lower commodity prices, while investors awaited
minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting to
gauge the outlook on global interest rates.
At 10:10 a.m. ET (14:10 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s
S&P/TSX composite index was down 91.57 points, or
0.41%, at 22,376.59. The index looks set for its biggest
percentage drop in three weeks if losses persist.
The materials sector led the sectoral declines,
falling 1.9% as prices of most base and precious metals eased.
Copper prices were hurt as profit-taking kicked in after the
red metal hit record high levels on Monday, while gold edged
lower as investors braced for minutes from the Fed’s April 30-
May 1 policy meeting, due at 1400 ET.
The energy sector followed with a 1.5% drop as
crude prices fell on expectations of higher-for-longer U.S.
interest rates, potentially impacting fuel use in the world’s
largest consumer.
“If crude continues to stay within its current range, then
the odds favour a rally back towards resistance levels once
again,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade
Nation.
Investors also looked ahead to the long-awaited earnings
report and commentary from AI bellwether Nvidia after
markets close.
Among individual stocks, copper miner Hudbay Minerals
dropped 6.8% on plans to raise $300.2 million in an
equity offering to help fund near-term growth initiatives at its
Copper Mountain unit, among other purposes.
Shopify added 4.4% after Goldman Sachs upgraded
the e-commerce company’s stock to ‘buy’, as per thefly.com,
which pushed the information technology sector higher
by 1.4%.
Meanwhile, some economists said the Bank of Canada may dash
hopes of a June interest rate cut and instead move in July,
giving it seven more weeks of key data to confirm the recent
trend of a slowing economy and continued easing of inflation.
(Reporting by Khushi Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Ravi
Prakash Kumar)
