Mining & Metals
TSX Closer: Index Falls as Energy Shares Slide With Oil; Investors Weigh Fed Rate Hike
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed lower on Wednesday as losses in energy, industrial and telecom stocks outweighed gains in utilities, while investors weighed falling oil prices, a US Federal Reserve rate hike and a mixed batch of Canadian economic data.The index closed down 90.80 points, or 0.3%, to 35,491.27 with mixed sectors. Energy led decliners, down 3.4%, followed by industrials and telecom that closed down 0.7% and 0.4%, respectively. Shares in utilities closed up 1.8%.In commodities, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude fell on Wednesday as increased Saudi oil shipments through Oman eased some concerns over supply disruptions caused by the shutdown of the kingdom's East-West pipeline.The October WTI crude oil contract settled down $3.40, or 3.2%, at $102.43 per barrel, while November Brent oil was last seen down $3.19, or 2.9%, at $105.56 per barrel.Meanwhile, December Comex gold futures dropped 0.5%, or $22.50, to $4,310.30 per ounce at last look.In currencies, the US dollar edged 0.5% higher against the Canadian dollar, with USD/CAD at 1.3990 at last look. The greenback rose after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points, the first time since July 2023.Based on recent yield model estimates using satellite imagery and agroclimatic data, Statistics Canada said Wednesday that corn for grain production is projected to reach a record 16.5-million tonnes, up 11.3% from 2025, driven by higher yields and increased harvested area.While soybean production is projected to increase by 7.8% annually, reaching 7.5-million tonnes, and wheat production is expected to decline by 10.9% annually to 36.1-million tonnes in 2026.Separately, StatsCan reported Canada's building permits fell 17.3% monthly to CA$12.2 billion in July, reversing June's gain, led by a CA$1.9-billion drop in non-residential permits, while residential permits fell by CA$701.2 million. July's drop was much higher than the 4.8% monthly consensus decline expected by Bloomberg in a survey.On the housing front, Canada's housing starts were broadly flat in August, with the seasonally adjusted annualized rate at 229,046 units, compared with 229,360 in July, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in a Wednesday note. August's unchanged housing starts were worse than a consensus 240,000 figure provided by Bloomberg's survey.In stocks, Dollarama (DOL.TO) closed up CA$9.06 to CA$174.56 after reporting fiscal Q2 earnings of CA$1.29 per diluted share from CA$1.16 per diluted share a year ago.
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