The Canadian stock market trended upward for the sixth consecutive session on Friday, as steady interest rates and better-than-anticipated domestic economic growth in the first quarter kept optimism alive. While the S&P/TSX Composite Index remained largely choppy, it ended the volatile session with minor 15-point gains at 20,580.
Despite losses in healthcare, mining, and banking shares, a positive movement in other key sectors like technology and consumer cyclicals pushed the index upward. With this, the main TSX benchmark rose 1.9% last week, ending the third consecutive week in the green territory.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Shares of Athabasca Oil (TSX: ATH) inched up by 3% in the last session to $3.38 per share after the energy company revealed that the Toronto Stock Exchange has approved its share-repurchase plan. Athabasca targets repurchasing slightly less than 58 million of its common shares in the next 12 months. Notably, ATH remains among 2023’s top-performing energy stocks, as it has already risen more than 40% so far this year.
Onex and Interfor were also among the top-performing TSX Composite components on April 14, as they rallied by at least 4.6% each.
In contrast, Canopy Growth, First Majestic Silver, Hudbay Minerals (TSX: HBM), Denison Mine, and Wesdome Gold Mines dived by more than 4% each, making them the bottom performers for the day.
These losses in Hudbay Minerals came a day after the Toronto-headquartered diversified mining firm announced its intention to acquire the Vancouver-based Copper Mountain Mining. Hudbay expects this deal to strengthen its copper-focused portfolio and result in estimated efficiencies of around US$30 million every year.
Based on their daily trade volume, Cenovus Energy, Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian Natural Resources, and First Quantum Minerals were the most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices across the board were mixed early Monday morning, pointing to a flat open for the resource-heavy TSX index today. While no key economic releases are due today, investors may want to remain cautious before the release of domestic inflation data scheduled for Tuesday.
On the corporate events side, PrairieSky Royalty will announce its March quarter results on April 17 after the market closing bell. Street analysts expect the energy sector-focused royalty company to post $0.25 per share in quarterly earnings.
Market movers on the TSX today
