TSX falls as Shopify hints revenue growth slowdown

Canada's main stock index fell on Wednesday after the country's most valuable company Shopify Inc hinted revenue growth would slow this year.

The Ottawa-based company said COVID-19 vaccine rollouts would encourage people to return to brick-and-mortar stores and the shift to e-commerce will likely resume a more normalized pace of growth.

At 9:58 a.m. ET (14:58 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 158.25 points, or 0.86%, at 18,334.47.

Canada's annual inflation rate rose at a faster pace in January, edging slightly ahead of analyst expectations on higher prices for durable goods and gasoline, Statistics Canada said.

The energy sector was unchanged as US crude prices were down 0.2% a barrel, while Brent crude added 0.3%.

The financials sector gained 0.1%. The industrials sector fell 0.6%.

The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 1.7% as gold futures fell 1.0% to $1,779.9 an ounce.

On the TSX, 51 issues were higher, while 162 issues declined for a 3.18-to-1 ratio to the downside, with 42.99 million shares traded.

The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Bausch Health Companies, which jumped 3.2% after brokerage RBC raised its rating on the stock to "outperform" after four years and Ivanhoe Mines, which rose 3.0%.

Primo Water Corp fell 7.1%, the most on the TSX, while the second biggest decliner was Shopify Inc, down 6.5%.

The most heavily traded shares by volume were Supreme Cannabis Company, down 2.9%; Zenabis Global, down 2.8% and Manulife Financial Corp, up 0.2%.

The TSX posted seven new 52-week highs and no new lows.

Across all Canadian issues there were 60 new 52-week highs and three new lows, with a total volume of 123.64 million shares.