By Adriano Marchese


Stocks in Toronto declined on Tuesday after Statistics Canada reported that inflation declined 0.3% in December from the previous month, but increased 3.4% from a year ago. The rise was in step with inflation in the U.S. and the eurozone bloc last month.

Most sectors were in the red with energy, materials and commercial services leading the decline. Health technology was the only sector to post meaningful gains.

At midday, Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index off 0.52% at 20951.51 and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 was down by 0.47% to 1263.67.

Barrick Gold's Toronto-listed shares were down 6.1% to 22.19 Canadian dollars ($16.53) after the miner reported that fourth-quarter gold production rose sequentially, while copper was unchanged from the previous quarter. TD Securities' Greg Barnes, the head of mining equity research, Barrick's gold output of 1.054 million ounces and 113 million pounds of copper missed his estimates by 2% and 5%, respectively.


Other market movers:

Parex Resources shares fell 13% to C$22.32 after the oil and gas company said average production in the fourth quarter fell short of expectations, and production guidance for the next two years missed analyst forecasts.

Shares of Goodfood Market rose by 6.9% to C$0.31 after the online grocer and home meal company reported a narrower loss in its first fiscal quarter, despite discontinuing its on-demand offering, which led to a decline in sales.


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-16-24 1238ET