FX.co ★ TSX Ends Slightly Lower Ahead Of Key Economic Events

The Canadian market closed marginally down on Monday, due to investors exercising caution ahead of the upcoming Canadian inflation data and the Federal Reserve's policy announcement. The indicator S&P/TSX Composite Index was down by 11.97 points or 0.05% to end at 21,837.18, fluctuating only slightly between 21,810.40 and 21,874.61.

Tilray Inc experienced a significant increase of nearly 11%, while Bausch Health Companies and Chartwell Retirement Residences saw gains of 1.93% and 1.81% respectively. Energy stocks also increased as oil prices soared due to supply concerns. Africa Oil Corp rose by 3.35% following its cash offer to purchase up to 8.0% of shares in Impact Oil and Gas Ltd from minority shareholders. The offer was set at US$0.728 per Impact share, resulting in a possible outlay of about US$64 million, and leading to an estimated valuation of US$805 million for the entire company.

Vermilion Energy saw a steep rise of over 5%. Other energy companies like Headwater Exploration, Enerplus Corp, Cenovus Energy, Arc Resources, Baytex Energy, Pason Systems, International Petroleum Corp, Canadian Natural Resources, Secure Energy, Precision Drilling Corp, and Crescent Point Energy all had gains ranging from 1 to 2.3%.

Real estate stocks such as Storagevault Canada Inc, H&R Real Estate Investment Trust, Primaris and Killam Apartment REIT increased by 2 to 2.6%. Industrial shares like Bombardier Inc and Snc-Lavalin Group saw gains of 3% and 2% respectively, while Richellieu Hardware, Canadian National Railway, and Mullen Group advanced by 1.5% to 1%.

Consumer staple shares like Alimentation Couche-Tard and Jamieson Wellness fell by 3.4% and 1.7% respectively. Utility shares such as Brookfield Renewable Partners, Innergex Renewable Energy, Northland Power, Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp and Boralex Inc also depreciated by 2.5 to 3.1%.

Economic data from Statistics Canada revealed that industrial producer prices in Canada had a month-over-month increase of 0.7% in February following four consecutive months of decline. The year-over-year figures revealed a decrease of 1.7% in February after a 2.9% drop in the previous month. Raw material prices increased by 2.1% in February on a monthly basis, rising from 1.2% in January. However, year-on-year, raw materials prices saw a decrease of 4.7% in February.