An intraday strength in most commodity prices helped the Canadian stock market notch its fourth consecutive winning day, taking it to new heights in over one-and-a-half years. Despite the release of mixed economic data from the United States, the S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 28 points on Tuesday to settle at 21,228.
On the one hand, sectors like healthcare, technology, and real estate stock weakness ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision. On the other hand, strong gains in energy and industrial stocks kept the optimism alive, helping the TSX benchmark end another session in green territory.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Filo, New Gold, Orla Mining, and MEG Energy were the top-performing TSX stocks yesterday, as they inched up by more than 5% each.
On the flip side, shares of Ballard Power Systems, NovaGold Resources, BRP, and BlackBerry dived by at least 4% each, making them the day’s bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Metro (TSX:MRU) also trended downward after announcing its quarterly financial results. In the first quarter of its fiscal year 2024 (ended in December), the Montréal-based food and pharmacy retailer’s total revenue rose 6.5% year over year to $4.97 billion. Last quarter, its same-store sales for food and pharmacy segments increased by 6.1% and 3.9%, respectively.
With this, Metro posted adjusted quarterly earnings of $1.02 per share, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $0.99 per share. In its latest earnings report, however, the company also warned investors that it’s facing “significant headwinds” in the fiscal year 2024 with modest growth due to new automation investments but remains optimistic about long-term growth. This warning could be the main reason why MRU stock fell 1.6% in the last session to $70.10 per share, despite its quarterly earnings beat.
According to the exchange’s daily trade volume data, Manulife Financial, Enbridge, Bank of Nova Scotia, Baytex Energy, and TC Energy were the most active stocks.
TSX today
Commodity prices were largely mixed early Wednesday morning, leaving the direction of the resource-heavy TSX index unclear for today’s opening.
Besides Canada’s gross domestic product growth, TSX investors will closely watch the non-farm employment change data from the United States this morning. In the afternoon, investors’ attention will shift to the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate decision and press conference, which could give further direction to stocks.
On the corporate events side, TSX-listed companies like CGI, Methanex, and Allied Properties Real Estate Investment are expected to announce their latest quarterly results on January 31.
Market movers on the TSX today
