Canada Stocks: TSX ends lower as Fed sticks to inflation fight

Bausch Health Companies

20/09/2023 21:28

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      TSX ends down 4.2 points, at 20,214.69
    

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      Posts its lowest closing level since Sept. 11
    

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      Energy falls 1.4%; oil settles 1% lower
    

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      Materials sector rises 0.7%
    

  
 (Updates at market close)
    By Fergal Smith
       Sept 20 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index gave back
its earlier gains to post its lowest closing level in more than
a week on Wednesday as oil prices fell and the Federal Reserve's
hawkish stance rattled investors.
    The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
 .GSPTSE  ended down 4.2 points, at 20,214.69, its lowest
closing level since Sept. 11.
    The energy sector, which accounts for 20% of the TSX's
weighting, fell 1.4% as oil settled 1% lower at $90.28 a barrel.
    "Crude prices are dropping as the Fed remains determined to
keep the inflation fight going into the year-end," Edward Moya,
senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a note.
    "This was a hawkish skip (on rate hikes) and the risks that
the Fed will break the economy are growing."
    The Fed held interest rates steady but stiffened its hawkish
stance, with another rate increase projected by the end of the
year and monetary policy kept significantly tighter through 2024
than previously expected.
    The Bank of Canada has also kept the door open to further
tightening. It wanted to send the message that interest rates
would not be coming down soon when it left them at a 22-year
high after a policy meeting on Sept. 6, minutes showed.
    Data on Tuesday showed Canada's annual inflation rate
jumping to 4.0% in August from 3.3% in July.
    Technology was also a drag on Wednesday, falling 0.8%. But
materials, which includes precious and base metals miners and
fertilizer companies, added 0.7% and healthcare ended 2.5%
higher.
    Shares of Bausch Health Companies  BHC.TO  rallied 8.1%,
bouncing back from the previous session's sharp decline, after
brokerage Jefferies upgraded the stock.

 (Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Siddarth S and Khushi
Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Andrea Ricci)
 ((fergal.smith@thomsonreuters.com; +1 647 480 7446;))