Canadian stocks hit a fresh all-time high on Friday after a significantly stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report eased concerns about a potential economic slowdown. Positive economic data and firm commodity prices propelled the S&P/TSX Composite Index by 194 points, or 0.8%, to 24,163.
Despite weakness in some sectors like real estate and utilities, solid gains in financial, energy, and technology stocks drove the market benchmark higher. With this, the TSX index rose 0.9% last week, wrapping up its fourth straight week of gains.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics, the economy added 254,000 jobs in September, surpassing the average monthly gain of 203,000 over the past year, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%. Also, revisions to July and August employment figures added a combined 72,000 more jobs than initially reported.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
SilverCrest Metals (TSX: SIL) jumped 9.7%, to $13.81 per share, making it the top-performing TSX stock for the day. SIL stock surged after Coeur Mining (NYSE: CDE), the American mining firm, announced its acquisition of SilverCrest in a deal valued at US$1.7 billion, creating a large global silver company. According to the Silvercrest-Coeur deal, SilverCrest shareholders will receive 1.6022 Coeur shares for each SilverCrest share, representing a 22% premium.
The SilverCrest acquisition adds the high-grade, low-cost Las Chispas mine in Mexico to Coeur’s portfolio, which is likely to boost its annual silver production to 21 million ounces and generate an expected $700 million in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) by 2025. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025. On a year-to-date basis, SIL stock is now up 59%.
Shopify, Orla Mining, and Celestica were also among the top performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, climbing by at least 4.7% each.
In contrast, NovaGold Resources, Interfor, Innergex Renewable Energy, and InterRent REIT slipped by at least 2.4% each, making them the session’s worst-performing TSX stocks.
Based on their daily trade volume, TD Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Tamarack Valley Energy, Enbridge, and TC Energy were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures and gold spot prices were bullish early Monday morning, pointing to a slightly higher open for the commodity-heavy main TSX index today.
While no major economic releases are due this morning, higher commodity prices and an improving economic outlook suggest another strong day for the TSX.
Market movers on the TSX today
