By Adriano Marchese


Canadian stocks were lower in midday trading on Thursday. Tech was the main gainer across the board, followed by process industries, but these were offset by declines in tech services and consumer services. One of Canada's major tech players, Shopify Inc., saw its stock drop after the company provided softer-than-expected guidance for its first quarter in 2023.

At midday, Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index was 0.27% lower at 20664.68, and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 slipped 0.35% to 1245.20.

Shares in Shopify Inc., a Canadian e-commerce platform, were down more than 15% at 60.37 Canadian dollars ($45.08) after it said it forecasts first-quarter revenue growth to be in the high teens on a percentage basis. Consensus estimates see 20% growth from its first-quarter 2022 revenue of US$1.2 billion.


Other market movers:

Teck Resources Ltd. shares were 8.5% higher at C$60.99 after it said it is considering a possible spinoff of its steelmaking coal business, which would refocus the Canadian mining company on metals such as copper to meet growing demand from electric-vehicle production and wind- and solar-energy production.

Canadian Tire Corp. shares were 4.8% higher at C$172.60 after reporting better-than-expected profit and revenue in the fourth quarter, a key period that includes the Christmas holiday season.

Shares in Cenovus Energy Inc. were 1.6% lower at C$25.60 after the oil and gas company reported a rise in profit in the fourth quarter, but short of analyst expectations, while the company focused on reducing debt in the period.

MTY Food Group Inc. shares were 4.6% lower at C$70.10 after it logged a drop in earnings in its fourth fiscal quarter as impairment charges and costs related to recent acquisitions weighed in the quarter.


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-16-23 1217ET