The Canadian equities market maintained an upward trend on Wednesday, as investors welcomed the Bank of Canada’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged. After rallying by as much as 172 points in intraday trading, the S&P/TSX Composite Index erased some of its gains later during the volatile session to settle at 20,454, up 32 points from its previous closing.
Despite big losses in healthcare and consumer shares, healthy gains in other key market sectors like industrials, real estate, and mining drove the benchmark higher.
In its latest statement, the Canadian central bank revealed that the domestic economic growth in the March quarter looks stronger than earlier expected. However, it added the economic growth in the United States “is expected to slow considerably in the coming months, with particular weakness in sectors that are important for Canadian exports,” which remains a reason for worry.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Osisko Mining, Nuvei, TransAlta, and Element Fleet Management were the top-performing TSX stocks yesterday, as they climbed at least 2.8% each.
In contrast, Bombardier, Brookfield Business Partners, BlackBerry, and Spin Master were the bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, as they fell at least 3.6% each.
MTY Food Group (TSX: MTY) slipped about 2% in the last session to $59.91 per share after its slightly weaker-than-expected February quarter results came out. During the quarter, the Canadian restaurant franchisor’s revenue jumped 104% year over year to $286 million, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $246.8 million by a significant margin.
However, MTY’s adjusted quarterly earnings of $0.76 per share missed Street’s expectation of $0.78 per share due mainly to higher interest on long-term debt, unrealized forex headwinds, and new acquisition-related transaction expenses. MTY stock now trades with 5% year-to-date gains.
Based on their daily trade volume, TD Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Shaw Communications, and Shopify were the most active stocks on the Canadian exchange.
TSX today
Early Thursday morning, most commodity prices were trading on a slightly negative note, which could weigh on the main TSX index at the open today. While no key domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors may want to watch the monthly wholesale inflation and weekly jobless claims data from the U.S. market this morning.
Overall, TSX stocks may remain volatile, as investors continue to react to the recent weakness in the U.S. consumer inflation numbers and the Bank of Canada’s policy decision.
On the corporate events front, Cogeco Communications will announce its latest quarterly results after the market closing bell on April 13. Bay Street analysts expect the Montréal-based telecommunication company to report quarterly earnings of $2.08 per share with $740.4 million in revenue.
Market movers on the TSX today
