TSX falls ahead of Powell’s testimony

TORONTO: Canada’s main stock index fell on Tuesday as losses in healthcare stocks outweighed gains in energy, while investors remained cautious ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s nomination hearing.

At 9:49 a.m. ET (14:49 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 54.08 points, or 0.26%, at 21,018.24, after hitting its lowest intraday level since Dec. 21 in the previous session.

Investors expect Powell will give more clues to the timing of policy tightening when he appears before the committee later in the day, as bets grew for a quicker pace of US interest rate hikes.

“Investors may look to prepared comments from both (Powell and Vice-Chair nominee Lael Brainard) and how they answer questions from politicians for hints into how aggressively the Fed could move to raise interest rates,” Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management, said.