Toronto Stocks Pare Back Gains; Dye & Durham Down as UK Watchdog Says TM Group Deal Weakens Competition

By Adriano Marchese

Canadian stocks were firmly lower in midday trading Wednesday, in step with declines across global markets. According to FactSet, most sectors were lower, with consumer discretionary, staple materials and financials leading the decline, offsetting gains in utilities. Shares in Dye & Durham Ltd. fell after the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority said it has provisionally found that the acquisition of TM Group substantially lessened competition in the supply of property search services, and that its initial view is that the TM Group should be sold to address the issue.

At midday, Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 1.28% at 20228.05 and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 fell by 1.18% to 1226.27.

Dye & Durham Ltd. shares were fell 17% to C$20.43. The company said later Wednesday that it disagrees with the CMA's provisional findings in the phase 2 review and that it is evaluating its potential options.

Other market movers:

CAE Inc. shares were down 2.9% at C$29.61 after it said it will push back the release of its fourth-quarter results to June 2 to allow its external auditors to complete their procedures. CAE was originally set to release its results on May 19.

Shares in 5N Plus Inc., a Canadian semiconductors and performance materials producer, fell 6.2% to C$1.22 after it said it will close its Belgium-based subsidiary due to high costs and unprofitability.

Write to Adriano Marchese at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-18-22 1217ET