Despite a recovery in crude oil prices, Canadian stocks slipped for a second consecutive session on Wednesday as disappointing U.S. GDP (gross domestic product) growth data for the third-quarter reignited fears of a broader economic slowdown. The S&P/TSX Composite Index gave up 55 points, or 0.2%, to settle at 24,508.
Although the rebound in oil prices brought some relief to energy stocks, heavy losses in many other key sectors like mining, technology, and industrials dragged the TSX further into the red.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Ivanhoe Mines, Fortuna Mining, Seabridge Gold, and BlackBerry were the worst-performing TSX stocks yesterday, as they dived by at least 3.6% each.
In contrast, shares of Secure Energy Services (TSX:SES) popped by nearly 10% to $15.13 per share, making it the top-performing TSX stock for the day. This rally in SES stock came after the Calgary-based waste processing and energy infrastructure firm announced its far better-than-expected third-quarter earnings.
In the quarter ended in September 2024, Secure Energy’s total revenue slipped 12.4% year over year to $374 million as asset divestitures affected its facility count. Nevertheless, its adjusted quarterly earnings more than doubled from a year ago to $0.39 per share, also surpassing Street analysts’ expectations of $0.22 per share. Notably, Secure Energy recently received shareholder approval for its plan to change its corporate name to Secure Waste Infrastructure, effective January 1, 2025. On a year-to-date basis, SES stock is now up 60.4%.
Capital Power, Precision Drilling, and Aritzia were also among the session’s top gainers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with each climbing by at least 6.3%.
The five most active stocks on the exchange were Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank, Enbridge, and Manulife Financial based on their daily trade volume.
TSX today
Commodity prices were largely mixed early Thursday morning, pointing to a flat opening for the resource-heavy TSX index today. Despite the recent weakness, the market index remains on track to end the fourth consecutive month in positive territory as it currently trades with 2.1% month-to-date gains.
Besides Canada’s latest GDP growth data, TSX investors will keep a close eye on the important personal consumption expenditure data from the United States this morning, which could offer a clearer picture of inflationary pressures.
On the corporate events front, several Canadian companies, including Fairfax Financial, Eldorado Gold, Baytex Energy, Centerra Gold, Capstone Copper, Primaris REIT, Cogeco Communications, Tamarack Valley Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus Energy, Gildan Activewear, AltaGas, Veren, and OpenText, are expected to announce their quarterly results on October 31.
