Investors’ expectations from upcoming corporate earnings helped the Canadian equities market start the new week on a positive note, marking its seventh winning day out of the last eight sessions. The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed up by 75 points, or 0.4%, on Monday to settle at 21,200 — its highest closing level in more than 21 months.
Even as weaker crude oil and natural gas prices drove energy stocks lower, solid gains in most other key market sectors, including healthcare, technology, and real estate, moved the TSX index higher.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Ballard Power Systems, Seabridge Gold, First Capital Real Estate Investment Trust, and Wesdome Gold Mines were the top-performing TSX stocks, as they inched up by at least 2.9% each.
Shares of Celestica (TSX:CLS) were also among the top performers as they rose 1.5% before its December quarter financial results came out. After the market closing bell on January 29, the Toronto-based tech equipment maker told investors that its revenue last quarter grew positively by 4.8% year over year to US$2.14 billion with the help of a strong 10% jump in its Connectivity & Cloud Solutions segment sales.
More importantly, Celestica’s adjusted quarterly earnings jumped by 35.7% from a year ago to US$0.76 per share, beating Street analysts’ expectations of US$0.68 per share. After ending 2023 with strong 154% gains, CLS stock has now risen 12.4% so far in 2024 to trade at $43.63 per share.
On the flip side, New Gold, Filo, Onex, and First Majestic Silver dived by at least 5.4% each, making them the day’s bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Based on their daily trade volume, Royal Bank of Canada, Capstone Copper, New Gold, Manulife Financial, and Enbridge were the exchange’s five most heavily traded stocks.
TSX today
Most commodity prices were mixed early Tuesday morning, pointing to a flat open for the main TSX index today.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors will closely monitor monthly consumer confidence and job openings data from the United States this morning. These economic releases could give further direction to stocks, as investors await the Federal Reserve’s upcoming monetary policy event scheduled for Wednesday.
On the corporate events side, TSX-listed Metro and Canadian Pacific Kansas City will announce their latest quarterly results on January 30, which could keep their share prices volatile.
Market movers on the TSX today
