Canadian stocks traded positively for the third session in a row on Monday, as investors awaited key economic releases scheduled for later this week, including the Bank of Canada’s interest rate decision. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 18 points, or 0.1%, to settle at 20,924.
Even as healthcare, real estate, and consumer cyclical stocks witnessed healthy gains, weakness in other sectors like utility, industrial, and metal mining stocks restricted the TSX benchmark’s upward movement.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Shares of Mullen Group (TSX: MTL) rose 4.2% to $15.06 per share after more equity research firms raised their respective target prices on the stock. Notably, Street analysts started turning more optimistic on MTL stock last week after the Okotoks-headquartered logistics company announced its intentions to acquire ContainerWorld, a transportation and warehousing firm based in British Columbia.
The ContainerWorld deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024, will help Mullen expand its operations in British Columbia and Ontario by adding more than one million square feet of warehousing space. After declining by 3.5% last year, MTL stock has risen 7.3% in January so far.
Canada Goose, Precision Drilling, and BlackBerry were also among the top performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange yesterday, as they inched up by at least 3.9% each.
In contrast, Bombardier, Ero Copper, Algoma Steel, and First Quantum Minerals dived by at least 3.6% each, making them the session’s worst-performing TSX stocks.
According to the exchange’s daily trade volume data, Royal Bank of Canada, Enbridge, TC Energy, Bank of Montreal, and Cenovus Energy were the most heavily traded stocks.
TSX today
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures and metals prices were bullish early Tuesday morning, which could lift the commodity-heavy main TSX index at the open today.
While no big economic announcements are due this morning, TSX investors may want to remain cautious before the Canadian central bank’s monetary policy event and the release of other key economic releases scheduled for Wednesday.
On the corporate events side, the TSX-listed Canadian National Railway will announce its December quarter results after the market closing bell on January 23. Street analysts expect the real transportation giant to report earnings of $1.99 per share with the help of $4.37 billion in quarterly revenue.
Market movers on the TSX today
