Rallying commodity prices and investors’ positive reaction to cooling inflationary pressures drove Canadian equities higher on Thursday. After the release of weaker-than-expected U.S. wholesale inflation data, the S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed by 207 points, or 1%, from its previous closing to settle at 20,278, its highest closing level since May 19.
While nearly all key market sectors ended the session in the green, yesterday’s rally in the TSX benchmark was primarily led by strong buying in tech, banking, and utility stocks.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Shopify, Aritzia, Nuvei, and Precision Drilling were among the top-performing TSX stocks in the last session as they inched up by at least 4.5% each.
In contrast, shares of Spartan Delta, Torex Gold Resources, Birchcliff Energy, and MAG Silver lost at least 2.9% of their value each, making them the bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Cogeco Communications (TSX: CCA) traded on a mixed note before the third quarter of its fiscal year 2023 (ended in May) results came out after the market closing bell. During the quarter, the Montréal-headquartered telecommunications company’s adjusted earnings rose 8.3% year over year to $2.34 per share with the help of a 1.9% increase in its total revenue to $741.8 million.
With this, Cogeco Communications managed to exceed analysts’ earnings consensus estimate of $1.99 per share. In its latest earnings report, however, the company also highlighted how macroeconomic headwinds and rising competition is hurting its U.S. telecom segment’s performance. After slipping by 0.8% in the last session, CCA stock now trades with about 10% year-to-date losses at $69.21 per share.
According to the exchange’s daily trade volume data, Canadian Natural Resources, Enbridge, Toronto-Dominion Bank, and TC Energy were the most heavily traded stocks.
TSX today
After staging the sharp rally in the previous couple of sessions, commodity prices across the board seem to be taking a breather early Friday morning, which may lead to a minor correction in TSX energy and mining stocks at the open today.
While no major economic releases are due, Canadian stocks are still on track to end this week with healthy gains, as the main TSX benchmark has already risen 2.3% on a week-to-date basis.
Market movers on the TSX today
