Canadian stocks continued to trade positively for the third consecutive session on Friday, helping the main market benchmark end the week with nearly 3% gains. The S&P/TSX Composite Index inched up by 188 points, or 0.9%, in the last session to 20,180. Notably, it was the first time the index settled above the key 20,000 level since June 10.
A strong rally in gold and silver prices drove the shares of TSX metals and mining companies higher in the last session. While all other key sectors also ended the day in the green territory, shares of healthcare, real estate, industrials, financials, and technology companies led the market rally.
Top TSX movers and active stocks
Cannabis stocks rallied, as recently released, cooler-than-expected inflation numbers from the United States eased investors’ worries about an upcoming recession — at least temporarily. Aurora Cannabis stock popped by 9.3% to $2.23 per share, making it the top-performing TSX Composite component for the session.
ECN Capital (TSX:ECN) stock rose by about 7% to $7.13 per share on August 12 — a day after the Toronto-based financial services company announced its better-than-expected second-quarter results. In the June quarter, ECN Capital’s total revenue stood at US$81.6 million, beating analysts’ estimate of US$73.5 million. Similarly, the company reported an adjusted net profit of US$21.7 million for the quarter, about 6% higher than Street’s expectations. Year to date, ECN stock has risen by 33.5%.
Lithium Americas, Sandstorm Gold, and New Gold stocks were also among the top TSX gainers, as they rose by at least 6% each in the last session.
On the flip side, Park Lawn, Ero Copper, Wesdome Gold Mines, and Hudbay Minerals were the four worst-performing Canadian stocks, as they fell by at least 3% each.
Based on their daily trading volume, Enbridge, Manulife Financial, Suncor Energy, and Athabasca Oil were the most active TSX stocks. About 22.5 million shares of Enbridge changed hands on the exchange Friday.
TSX today
Early Monday morning, commodity prices across the board were witnessing sharp losses, which point to a lower open for the main TSX index today, with an expected sharp drop in mining and energy shares. While no major economic data is due today, investors may want to remain cautious ahead of Canada’s latest inflation figures to be released on Tuesday.
On the corporate events front, companies like K92 Mining and Ivanhoe Mines are expected to announce their latest quarterly results on August 15.
