Canadian stocks staged an unexpected recovery on Thursday, despite the release of hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation and data for September. While the TSX Composite Index opened sharply lower with more than 1% losses, it saw a dramatic turnaround later during the session. With this, the main market benchmark ended the highly volatile session with solid 407 points, or 2.2% gains, at 18,614, ending its six-day-long losing streak. All key sectors on the exchange settled in green territory yesterday, mainly led by a spectacular recovery in shares of energy, financials, utilities, and technology companies.
Top TSX movers and active stocks
Converge Technology, Secure Energy Services, and Advantage Energy were the top-performing TSX stocks yesterday, as they inched up by at least 6.5% each.
Aritzia (TSX:ATZ) stock continued to be among the top gainers for the second consecutive session — a day after reporting its upbeat August quarter results. On October 13, ATZ stock popped by 5.8% to $51.43 per share, extending its gains to 13% in the last couple of sessions combined. It’s noteworthy that many Street analysts from reputable firms like Royal Bank of Canada, Canaccord Genuity, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Bank of Montréal, and TD Securities have raised their target prices on Aritzia stock after the release of its far stronger-than-expected quarterly results on Wednesday. Year to date, ATZ now trades with a minor 1.8% loss.
On the flip side, Osisko Mining, Bausch Health, K92 Mining, First Majestic Silver, and Barrick Gold were the worst-performing TSX stocks on Friday, as they fell by more than 3% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, Enbridge, Canadian Natural Resources, Toronto-Dominion Bank, and Barrick Gold were the most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Early Friday morning, commodity prices across the board were trading on a slightly bearish note, which could take the main TSX index lower today. But looking at yesterday’s sharp rally in stocks, despite the latest U.S. inflation numbers pointing to grim economic prospects, I expect the Canadian stock market volatility to remain high in the near term without a clear direction.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, TSX investors may want to keep a close eye on the latest monthly retail sales data from the U.S. market this morning.
