A decline in bank stocks dragged the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) lower in the month of March.
Canada’s big six banks lost nearly $50 billion in market value during March, pulling the benchmark TSX down 0.6% for the month.
Canada’s banks are the largest sector weighting in the TSX, comprising 30% of its value.
Bank stocks were pushed lower across the board as several high-profile lenders failed in recent weeks, including Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB) in the U.S. and Credit Suisse (CS) in Europe.
Toronto-Dominion Bank’s (TD) stock recorded its worst month since June 2022 in March, having fallen nearly 10% in the month and lost $18 billion in market capitalization.
The S&P/TSX Banks subindex declined 7% in March.
As a result, the Toronto Stock Exchange underperformed the benchmark S&P 500 Index in the U.S., which gained 3.5% during March.
For this year’s first quarter, the TSX rose 3% while the S&P 500 Index increased 8%.
