The rally in Canadian stocks gained pace on Tuesday after cooler-than-expected consumer inflation data from the United States strengthened the possibility further that the Federal Reserve might soon start easing its monetary stance. This factor, along with steep gains in metals prices, drove the S&P/TSX Composite Index up by 315 points, or 1.6%, yesterday to settle at 20,024 — its highest closing level after September 20.
Even as falling crude oil and natural gas prices pressured energy stocks, robust gains in all other key market sectors, primarily in real estate, technology, utilities, and consumer cyclicals, took the TSX benchmark higher.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Ballard Power Systems, K92 Mining, Fortuna Silver Mines, and Brookfield Business Partners were the top-performing TSX stocks, as they inched up by at least 9.7% each.
In contrast, Shawcor (TSX:MATR) tanked by 10.3% to $13.86 per share, making it the worst performer on the Toronto Stock Exchange. This selloff in MATR stock came a day after the Toronto-based material technology firm released its latest quarterly financial results.
In the third quarter of 2023, Shawcor’s adjusted revenue fell 3.8% year over year from continuing operations to $225.4 million due to a weakness in its composite technologies segment. The company posted adjusted quarterly earnings of $1.03 per share, beating Street analysts’ expectations of $0.82 per share. However, Shawcor warned investors that normal seasonal effects and lower demand for products in the composite technology segment might affect its operations in the fourth quarter, hurting investors’ sentiments. This selloff trimmed MATR stock’s year-to-date gains to less than 1%.
CAE and Cogeco Communications were also among the bottom-performing TSX stocks for the day, as they slipped by at least 2.9% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, Enbridge, Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus Energy, and Magna International were the most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Most commodity prices, except crude oil, were trading on a strong bullish note early Wednesday morning, which could lift the resource-heavy main TSX index at the open today. While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors may want to closely watch the monthly wholesale inflation, retail sales, and weekly crude oil stockpile data from the United States this morning.
On the corporate events side, TSX-listed companies Metro and Loblaw will announce their latest quarterly results on November 15.
Market movers on the TSX today
