The rally in Canadian stocks, specifically in the tech sector, gained steam on Tuesday after softer-than-expected U.S. job openings and consumer confidence levels suggested that the Federal Reserve may adopt a more cautious approach to raising interest rates. The S&P/TSX Composite Index jumped by 265 points, or 1.3%, to settle at 20,290, marking its biggest single-day gains since early June 2023.
Besides spectacular gains in tech stocks, other notable advances in other key sectors on the Toronto Stock Exchange, including consumer cyclicals, healthcare, and mining, pushed the index higher.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Nuvei, Lightspeed Commerce, Shopify, and Aritzia were the top-performing TSX stocks in the last session, as they climbed by at least 3.9% each.
Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS) rose 2.7% to $64.52 per share, despite the release of its slightly weaker-than-expected quarterly results. In the third quarter of its fiscal year 2023 (ended in July), the bank’s revenue grew positively by 3.7% from a year ago to $8.1 billion, primarily with the help of its increasing net interest income.
Despite higher revenues, however, Scotiabank’s adjusted quarterly earnings fell 17.6% year over year to $1.73 per share due mainly to higher provisions for credit losses and non-interest expenses. On a year-to-date basis, BNS stock is now down 2.7%.
In contrast, Nexgen Energy and Chartwell Retirement Residences were among the bottom performers yesterday, losing more than 1% of their respective values.
Based on their daily trade volume, Manulife Financial, Cenovus Energy, Suncor Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, and Bank of Nova Scotia stood out as the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
After posting healthy gains in the last session, oil prices were extending their gains early Wednesday morning, which should help TSX energy stocks inch up at the open today.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors will focus on the latest monthly non-farm employment change, pending home sales, and quarterly GDP (gross domestic product) growth data from the United States this morning.
On the corporate events side, National Bank of Canada is expected to announce its latest quarterly financial results on August 30. Bay Street analysts expect it to post earnings of $2.38 per share for the quarter with $2.64 billion in revenue.
Market movers on the TSX today
