After falling for two consecutive sessions, Canadian stocks turned positive on Thursday as much stronger-than-expected U.S. GDP (gross domestic product) growth data and a rebound in commodity prices boosted investors’ confidence. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose by 101 points, or 0.4%, to settle at 23,227.
Despite weakness in real estate and consumer cyclical stocks, solid intraday gains in other market sectors, such as mining, financials, and technology, led the TSX rally.
According to the revised estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. economy expanded at an annualized rate of 3.0% in the second quarter of 2024, up from the initial 2.8% estimate. This GDP growth was mainly driven by strong consumer spending, private inventory investment, and nonresidential fixed investment, while a downturn in residential investment partially offset these gains.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSX: CM) surged by 5.5% to $77.55 per share after announcing its latest quarterly results. In the quarter ended July 2024, the fifth-largest Canadian bank by market cap ($73.1 billion) reported revenue of $6.6 billion, up 12.9% year over year.
Moreover, robust performance across its Canadian and U.S. banking segments and lower provision for credit losses drove Canadian Imperial Bank’s adjusted quarterly earnings up by roughly 27% from a year ago to $1.93 per share, also beating Street analyst expectations of $1.74 per share by a healthy margin. After the recent rally, CM stock now trades with 21.6% year-to-date gains and offers a 4.9% annualized dividend yield.
Kinaxis, Royal Bank of Canada, K92 Mining, and Algoma Steel were also among the top performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with each advancing by more than 4%.
In contrast, shares of Parex Resources (TSX: PXT) crashed by 23.6% to $13.18 per share, extending its year-to-date losses to 47.2%. This massive selloff in PXT stock came a day after the Calgary-headquartered oil and gas firm revised its 2024 production guidance downward, primarily due to underperformance at the Arauca field. In addition, Parex announced the resignation of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Sanjay Bishnoi, effective September 20, 2024, with Cameron Grainger stepping in as interim CFO.
Ero Copper and the National Bank of Canada were also among the bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange as they slipped by at least 2.3% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor Energy, Manulife Financial, Enbridge, and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures and base metals prices were bullish early Friday morning, pointing to a slightly higher open for the commodity-heavy TSX index today.
Besides Canada’s budget balance and GDP growth data, Canadian investors will also closely monitor the important personal consumption expenditure data from the United States this morning. These economic releases could give further direction to stocks before going into the long Labour Day weekend.
On the corporate events side, TSX-listed Canadian Western Bank and Laurentian Bank of Canada will announce their latest quarterly results on August 30.
Market movers on the TSX today
