Materials stocks drag TSX to one-month low

By Khushi Singh

September 25, 202311:36 AM EDTUpdated 10 min ago

Sept 25 (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index hit a one-month low on Monday, dragged down by material stocks, as metal prices weakened against a strong dollar after U.S. Federal Reserve officials signalled higher interest rates will be around for longer.

At 10:46 a.m. ET (1446 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) was down 52.58 points, or 0.27%, at 19,727.39, marking the sixth straight session of losses.

The materials sector (.GSPTTMT), which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, fell 1.5%.

Copper prices dropped 0.6%, hurt by concerns over Chinese demand, rising stocks and a stronger dollar. Gold prices eased about half a percent.

The dollar jumped against major currencies as the latest batch of data on business activity from around the globe highlighted the superior position of the United States relative to other major economies.

“The dollar is always the reserve currency in times of economic uncertainties, war even, and we also have rising yields which could be strengthening the dollar”, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.

The energy sector (.SPTTEN) climbed 0.4% as oil prices held steady after Russia relaxed its fuel ban

Investors are awaiting Canada’s GDP estimates for July later in the week. The report is likely to show an uptick of 0.1% in economic growth, per a Reuters poll of economists.

Traders are also awaiting a bundle of U.S. data scheduled for this week – durable goods data, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index for August, second-quarter GDP and remarks by Fed policymakers, including Chair Jerome Powell.

In corporate news, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Canadian drugmaker Appili Therapeutics’ (APLI.TO) liquid oral form of antibiotic drug metronidazole, sending shares up 36.4%.

Reporting by Khushi Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid