Canadian stocks continued to surge for the fifth consecutive session on Friday as strengthening commodity prices and better-than-expected domestic retail sales numbers boosted investors’ confidence. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose by 54 points, or 0.2%, for the day to settle at 25,444, posting a fresh all-time high on a closing basis.
Despite weakness in the healthcare sector, continued buying in industrial, mining, and bank stocks helped the TSX extend its record-breaking rally. With this, the TSX Composite ended the week with solid 2.2% gains, delivering its best weekly performance in over two months.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
ATS, Aya Gold & Silver, Finning International, and Bombardier were the day’s top-performing TSX stocks, with each inching up by at least 2.8%.
Shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX: TD) also traded positively after announcing the appointment of Michelle Myers as its global chief auditor, effective December 9, 2024. Myers, who is currently TD’s senior vice president, controller, and chief accountant, will succeed Anita O’Dell, who will retire in May 2025 after 14 years of service.
Despite climbing by 2% so far in November, TD Bank stock is still down 8.3% on a year-to-date basis. This weakness in 2024 could be attributed to challenges surrounding its U.S. Anti-Money Laundering program, which recently resulted in a settlement involving US$3.09 billion in payments.
In contrast, StorageVault Canada, Celestica, Bausch Health Companies, and Capstone Copper were among the worst performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange as they slipped by at least 2.4% each.
According to the exchange’s daily trade volume data, Suncor Energy, Manulife Financial, Sun Life Financial, Enbridge, and Canadian Natural Resources were the five most active stocks for the session.
TSX today
After rallying by around 6% last week, gold spot prices turned bearish in early trading on Monday, which could pressure shares of precious metals mining companies on the TSX today.
While no economic data is due this morning, TSX stocks may still remain volatile as Canadian investors look forward to many major economic releases scheduled for later this week. These include consumer confidence, the Fed’s meeting minutes, new home sales, GDP (gross domestic product), and personal consumption expenditure data from the United States, as well as Canada’s third-quarter GDP growth numbers.
The TSX-listed Alimentation Couche-Tard will announce its latest quarterly results after the market closing bell today. Street analysts expect the Laval-based retail giant to report earnings of US$0.77 per share for the October quarter with the help of US$18.24 billion in revenue.
Market movers on the TSX today
