Canadian stocks jumped sharply on Thursday after a much cooler-than-expected U.S. inflation data raised the possibility of less-aggressive monetary policy tightening by the Federal Reserve. As a result, the S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed as much as 691 points in intraday trading. While the index trimmed some of its gains later during the session, it still managed to end the day on a solid note by adding 646 points, or 3.3%, to settle at 19,990, marking its biggest single-day rally since April 2020. Apart from renewed buying in technology, healthcare, and real estate sectors due to cooler inflation data, TSX metal mining and energy stocks also surged with the help of a rally in commodity prices.
On November 10, key U.S. indexes like S&P 500, NASDAQ Composite, and Dow Jones soared 5.5%, 7.4%, and 3.7%, respectively.
Top TSX movers and active stocks
CAE (TSX:CAE) popped 18.2% yesterday to $28.43 per share to become the best-performing TSX stock for the day. Besides the broader market optimism, CAE’s much stronger-than-expected third-quarter results boosted investors’ confidence, triggering a rally in its stock. In the September quarter, the Canadian tech firm registered a 21.9% year-over-year jump in its total revenue to $993.2 million. Its adjusted quarterly earnings also rose 11.8% from a year ago to $0.19 per share, exceeding analysts’ expectation of $0.17 per share with the help of double-digit growth in its civil segment and consistent strength in the defence segment. Year to date, CAE stock now trades with 11% losses.
Canopy Growth, Shopify, and Nuvei were also among the top performers in the last session, as they surged by more than 16% each.
On the flip side, ECN Capital, Vermilion Energy, and Definity Financial were the worst-performing TSX Composite components with at least 3.8% losses each.
Based on their daily trade volume, Barrick Gold, Vermilion Energy, Enbridge, Manulife Financial, and Kinross Gold were the five most active stocks on the Canadian exchange.
TSX today
Early Monday morning, commodities like crude oil, gold, and copper were trading on a strong bullish note after investors weighed the possibility that lower inflation could improve the economic outlook. Given these positive signals, I expect the commodity-heavy TSX index to open sharply higher today. In addition, high-growth stocks could extend their rally from yesterday, as investors continue to react positively to the latest macroeconomic developments.
While no important economic releases are due, Canadian companies like SmartCentres REIT, Onex, Algonquin Power & Utilities, Hydro One, and Emera are expected to release their latest quarterly results on November 11.
