The Canadian stock market staged a relief rally on Monday, as the UBS–Credit Suisse merger news seemingly calmed fears about the ongoing banking turmoil, at least temporarily. The S&P/TSX Composite Index inched up by 132 points, or 0.7%, yesterday to settle at 19,519 after crashing by 5.8% in the previous two weeks.
An intraday strength in crude oil and base metals prices drove the commodity-linked Canadian stocks higher. Besides that, other key stock market sectors, like technology and banking, also witnessed minor recovery.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Spartan Delta, NuVista Energy, and Hudbay Minerals were among the top-performing TSX stocks for the day, as they climbed more than 5% each.
Shares of Premium Brands Holdings (TSX:PBH) also rallied 4.7% to $95.77 per share, as Street analysts continued to raise their target prices on its stock after recently released fourth-quarter results. Last week on March 16, the British Columbia-headquartered food manufacturer and distributor revealed that its total revenue in the December quarter jumped 21.5% year over year to $1.6 billion.
While Premium Brands’s quarterly adjusted earnings of $1.19 per share remained flat on a year-over-year basis, its adjusted earnings for the full year 2022 rose 7.6% to $4.82 per share. On a year-to-date basis, PBH stock now trades with 16.4% gains.
On the flip side, Canopy Growth, ECN Capital, Tilray Brands, Bombardier, and Cronos Group were among the bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, as they plunged by more than 4% each on March 20.
Based on their daily trade volume, Suncor Energy, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Barrick Gold, and Canadian Natural Resources were the most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
While crude oil and base metals prices continued to showcase strength early Tuesday morning, precious metals prices were trading on a weak note. Given these mixed signals from the commodities market, the resource-heavy main TSX index is likely to remain flat at the open today.
Besides U.S. existing home sales data, Canadian investors may want to keep a close eye on the domestic core consumer price index (CPI) numbers this morning. The CPI data will give an idea about the latest inflationary trends and help investors set their expectations for the Bank of Canada’s upcoming monetary policy moves.
Market movers on the TSX today
