The Canadian equities market turned mixed on Thursday, as investors remained cautious ahead of the important U.S. employment report released on the Good Friday market holiday. With this, the S&P/TSX Composite Index settled with a minor 37-point gain in the last session at 20,197.
While commodity-linked stocks of mining and energy companies witnessed losses, healthy gains in other key stock market sectors, such as healthcare, real estate, and utilities, lifted the main TSX benchmark.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Shares of Tilray Brands (TSX: TLRY) jumped 7% to $3.51, making it the top-performing TSX stock for the day. This sharp rally in TLRY stock came a day after the cannabis giant announced a strategic, new export and distribution-focused partnership with Cansativa Group to expand the presence of its medical cannabis division across the Czech Republic.
In another development, Tilray’s subsidiary Sweetwater Brewing Company revealed that its extended family of craft brands is now available in Nevada, which the company expects to be a key market for its expansion. Despite its recent rally, TLRY stock is still down 4.4% on a year-to-date basis.
BELLUS Health, North West Company, and Teck Resources were also among the top performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange in the last session, as they inched up by at least 4.3%.
On the flip side, ATS Corp and Nutrien dived by at least 4.6% each to become the worst-performing Canadian stocks for the day.
Based on their daily trade volume, TC Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, Crescent Point Energy, and Bank of Nova Scotia were the most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Oil and metals prices were mixed early Monday morning, pointing to a flat open for the commodity-heavy TSX index today.
In its latest employment report released on Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics said that the total nonfarm payroll employment witnessed an increase of 236,000 jobs in March — significantly lower than Street’s expectation of 326,000. On the one hand, this data could make investors nervous about the weakening labour market. On the other hand, it may make the Federal Reserve more cautious about the monetary policy tightening in the near future, which could lift TSX tech stocks up.
On the corporate events front, Tilray is set to release its latest quarterly financial report after the market closing bell on April 10. Street analysts expect the New York-headquartered cannabis firm to report a net loss of US$0.06 per share for the February quarter with US$150.5 million in revenue.
Market movers on the TSX today
