Canadian equities continued to rally for the third consecutive session on Wednesday, as overnight gains in commodity prices and optimism surrounding the potential interest rate cuts kept the positive momentum going. The S&P/TSX Composite Index edged up by 135 points, or 0.6%, yesterday to 21,016, settling above the psychologically important 21,000 level for the first time since June 2022.
Shares of companies across sectors made notable advances, but the TSX rally was mainly driven by solid gains in healthcare, real estate, and tech stocks.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
TFI International (TSX:TFII) surged by another 3.8% to $181.97 per share yesterday after rallying by nearly 8% in the previous session. The recent rally in TFII stock started after the Saint Laurent-headquartered transportation and logistics giant revealed intentions to acquire the NASDAQ listed, American transportation firm Daseke in a deal worth around US$1.1 billion.
The Daseke acquisition deal is likely to be completed in the middle of 2024 and aims to expand TFI’s presence in the trucking industry. After the purchase, TFI might split into two separate businesses to focus on different parts of trucking and logistics. On a year-to-date basis, TFII stock is now up 34.2%.
Lithium Americas, Bausch Health Companies, and NovaGold Resources were also among the top performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, as they climbed up by at least 3.5% each.
On the flip side, Brookfield Renewable Partners, Canfor, and Altus fell by 2% each, making them the day’s worst-performing TSX stocks.
Based on their daily trade volume, the Bank of Nova Scotia, TC Energy, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Suncor Energy, and Baytex Energy were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Prices of energy products and base metals were bearish early Thursday morning, but precious metals were still trading on a firm note. Given these mixed signals, the commodity-heavy main TSX index could remain flat at the open today.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors may want to keep a close eye on the latest monthly pending home sales, weekly jobless claims, and crude oil stockpile data from the United States this morning.
Market movers on the TSX today
