The Canadian equities market maintained optimism for the sixth consecutive session on Tuesday, primarily supported by a rally across commodity markets. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 50 points, or 0.2%, for the day to settle at 20,205, its highest closing level since May 19.
Despite minor losses in some industrial and consumer stocks, most other key sectors like cannabis, mining, and real estate witnessed healthy gains to help the TSX benchmark start the new month on a strong note after delivering its best weekly performance in more than two years.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
A recovery in commodity prices drove Equinox Gold, Dundee Precious Metals, and Innergex Renewable Energy up by more than 5% each, bringing them among the top-performing TSX stocks for the day.
Interestingly, cannabis stocks Tilray Brands (TSX:TLRY) and Aurora Cannabis zoomed up by 11.2% and 43.1%, respectively. While there wasn’t any major news specific to these companies, their rally could be attributed to the commencement of trading of the Mississauga-headquartered marijuana company TerrAscend on the Toronto Stock Exchange on July 4.
On its first day of trading on the TSX, TerrAscend stock closed at $2.45 per share. It’s noteworthy that Aurora and TerrAscend are not currently parts of the TSX Composite Index, unlike Tilray. Despite this rally, conservative investors may want to remain cautious about cannabis stocks due to their extreme volatility.
On the flip side, Sleep Country Canada and Descartes Systems were among the bottom performers yesterday, as they slipped by at least 2.5% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, TD Bank, Canadian Natural Resources, TC Energy, and Baytex Energy were the most active stocks.
TSX today
Commodity prices were largely mixed early Wednesday morning, pointing to a flat open for the resource-heavy main TSX index today.
While no key domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors may want to closely monitor Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting minutes this afternoon, which could give further direction to stocks for the short term, especially the tech sector.
Market movers on the TSX today
