By Adriano Marchese


Toronto indexes were firmly lower in midday trading Friday. Canadian equities fell 1% Thursday, its single worst drop in over a month, putting the S&P/TSX Composite Index on track for a 1.8% weekly decline.

In the session, only tech, health tech and consumer durables stocks logged any gains. The decliners were led by materials, health services and tech services stocks.

On the macroeconomic front, two indicators came in. Canadian factory shipments rose 2.1% in October, a faster-than-expected pace, on strong demand for petroleum and coal products. Meanwhile, Canadian wholesale transactions also increased in October, rising 1% thanks to the a good performance from the automotive sector.

Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index retreated 0.6% to 25262.09. The blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 fell by .5% to 1516.68.

Enghouse Systems' stock fell over 10% to 28.23 Canadian dollars ($19.85) a share after the company reported late Thursday lower-than-expected revenue in the fourth fiscal quarter, dragged down by a miss in software licenses.


Other market movers:

Shares in TerraVest Industries fell 6.9% to C$116.70 after the company reported that profit fell in its fourth fiscal quarter. The company said it was optimistic for its future business performance, which led management to declare a 17% increase to the quarterly dividend.

Galaxy Digital Holdings said it has appointed Tony Paquette as its new chief financial officer. Shares rose 3.1% to C$28.31.


Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-13-24 1218ET