TSX Today: What to look for in stocks on Tuesday, December 9

Canadian stocks fell for a second straight session on Monday as falling commodity prices and speculation over the timing of future rate cuts continued to weigh on investor sentiment. The S&P/TSX composite index fell another 141 points, or 0.5%, to settle at 31,170, but still remained close to its all-time high.

Even as select financial stocks rose, heavy losses in most other major market sectors, including healthcare, mining and real estate, pressured the TSX benchmark, following a broad pullback as investors grew more cautious ahead of central bank announcements.

Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks

Curaleaf Holdings, Parex Resources, First majestic silverAnd Ivanhoe Mines were the worst performing TSX stocks of the day, down at least 4.4% each.

Despite broader market weakness, shares of Transcontinental (TSX:TCL.A) rose nearly 19% to $23.66 per share, making it the best performing TSX stock of the day. The rally came after the Montreal-based company said it would sell its entire packaging division to ProAmpac for about $2.1 billion.

As part of the deal, Transcontinental expects to return approximately $20 per share to shareholders through a special cash distribution. The company expects the transaction will help the company unlock value and sharpen its focus on retail services, printing and educational publishing. Investors appeared to welcome the news, likely attracted by the significant shareholder payout and streamlined future growth strategy. On a year-over-year basis, Transcontinental shares are now up about 35%.

Celestica, Fairfax FinancialAnd Aecon group also rose at least 3.8% each, making them among the session’s top gainers on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Based on their daily trading volume Canadian natural resources, Suncor Energy, Cenovus energy, TelusAnd Enbridge were the five most active stocks on the stock exchange.

TSX today

Commodity prices were mixed in early trading on Tuesday, setting the stage for a potentially flat open on the TSX today.

While there are no major domestic economic releases in the pipeline, Canadian investors may want to keep a close eye on the latest JOLTS jobs data from the United States this morning.

The data could provide new clues about the strength of the U.S. labor market and help shape expectations around the Federal Reserve’s next policy move ahead of Wednesday’s interest rate decision and policy statement.

In terms of corporate events, the TSX is on the list North West Company will release its final quarterly results after the market closing bell. Bay Street analysts expect the grocery retailer to post earnings of $0.84 per share on revenue of $637.4 million for the October quarter.

Market movements on the TSX today