Canada Stocks: Commodity stocks weigh on TSX; CI Financial shines

CI Financial

11/05/2023 15:46

(Adds analyst comment in paragraph 3 and sector moves
throughout; updates prices)

        * 
      Manulife Financial slides on Q1 profit miss
    

        * 
      Nutrien falls on slashing FY earnings outlook
    

        * 
      Absolute Software soars on take-private deal
    

        * 
      CI Financial surges on US stake sale
    

        * 
      TSX down 0.7%
    

  
    By Johann M  Cherian
       May 11 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on
Thursday, weighed down by losses in commodity-linked sectors,
even as fund manager CI Financial soared on a minority stake
sale in its U.S. wealth management business.
    CI Financial Corp  CIX.TO  surged 44.2%, the biggest jump in
29 years, after the fund manager also beat quarterly revenue
estimates.
    "For a long time CI was actually buying up businesses in the
U.S. and now they seem to be starting to sell out some of their
non-core assets and raising some capital which is what the
market likes to see," said Allan Small, senior investment
advisor at Allan Small Financial Group.
    Still, the broader financial sector  .SPTTFS  was 0.4% down.
    At 10:14 a.m. ET (1414 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's
S&P/TSX composite index  .GSPTSE  was down 150.4 points, or
0.73%, at 20,348.91.
    Weighing on the benchmark index were energy  .SPTTEN  and
materials stocks  .GSPTTMT , tracking weak commodity prices.
 O/R   GOL/   MET/L 
    The TSX has been volatile in May as uncertainties over
interest rate hikes weigh on investor sentiment. The bourse,
however, is up so far in the second quarter, helped by gains
posted in April.
    Among other major movers, Nutrien Ltd  NTR.TO  cut its
annual profit forecast as increased fertilizer prices owed to
Western sanctions on Russia and Belarus weighed on demand,
sending the company's shares down 2.9%.
    Manulife Financial Corp  MFC.TO  shed 0.6%, after its
quarterly profit missed analysts' estimates as the insurer
attracted less capital from investors spooked by recent market
volatility.
    Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp  AQN.TO  added 1.4%, after
the power generator said it would conduct a strategic review of
its renewable group.
    The utilities sector  .GSPTTUT , housing the stock, rose
0.3%.
    Absolute Software Corp  ABST.TO  surged 33.7%, after
private-equity firm Crosspoint Capital Partners said it would
take the cybersecurity firm private for an equity value of $657
million.

 (Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi
Majumdar)
 ((johann.mcherian@thomsonreuters.com;))