The Canadian stock market continued to trade on a slightly bearish note for the third consecutive session on Friday. Nonetheless, the TSX Composite Index ended the week at 20,891 with 1.2% gains, ending its three-week-long losing streak. Despite continued weakness in base metals prices, strengthening crude oil and precious metals helped Canadian energy and mining stocks inch up.
Also, a minor decline in the U.S. core consumer price index calmed investors’ worries about high inflation — at least temporarily.
Top TSX movers and active stocks
As I anticipated, Laurentian Bank of Canada (TSX:LB) stock rallied by about 6% Friday, making it the top-performing TSX stock. Earlier during the session, the bank announced its largely better-than-expected October quarter results. While Laurentian Bank’s quarterly revenue missed Street’s estimates by a narrow margin, its adjusted earnings of $1.06 per share beat expectations by about 16%. This factor seemingly boosted investors’ confidence, driving a rally in LB stock, as it currently trades with 29% year-to-date gains.
Altus Group, Osisko Mining, and Parex Resources were also among the top gainers on the TSX in the last session. While Altus rose by 5.5%, the other two stocks rose by at least 2.5% each.
In contrast, Canopy Growth, Denison Mines, Cronos Group, First Quantum Minerals, and Stelco Holdings were the worst-performing Canadian stocks, as they dropped by at least 4% each on Friday.
Based on their daily trade volume, Enbridge, Suncor Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, and BCE were the most active TSX stocks. More than seven million shares each of all these companies changed hands on the exchange on December 10.
TSX today
I expect Canadian stocks to open slightly higher Monday morning due to continued strength in commodity prices across the board. While gold and crude oil are continuing to rally for the second consecutive session early this morning, copper prices are also staging a recovery.
Although no major economic releases or corporate events are due today, the Canadian stock market may remain sensitive to new updates related to the Omicron coronavirus variant.
