Canadian equities closed slightly lower on April’s final trading day, as weaker commodity prices and disappointing GDP (gross domestic product) figures from both the U.S. and Canada dampened investor sentiment despite largely upbeat corporate earnings. As a result, the S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped by 33 points, or 0.1%, to 24,842.
Although consumer, utilities, and real estate sectors traded positively, weakness in energy and technology stocks pressured the broader market. With this, the TSX ended April with a minor loss of 0.3%.
Notably, Canada’s GDP contracted by 0.2% in February, dragged lower by declines in energy, construction, and real estate sectors, while the U.S. economy unexpectedly shrank at an annualized rate of 0.3% in the first quarter due to rising imports and lower government spending.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Ivanhoe Mines, Vermilion Energy, International Petroleum, and NGEx Minerals were the worst-performing TSX stocks for the day, with each diving by at least 4.4%.
In contrast, New Gold (TSX:NGD) jumped over 19% to $5.49 per share, making it the day’s top-performing TSX stock. This rally in NGD stock followed the Toronto-headquartered gold miner’s better-than-expected first-quarter results.
Last quarter, New Gold’s revenue grew by 8.8% year over year as it posted a free cash flow of US$25 million, backed by higher gold prices and strong gold and copper production, especially from its New Afton mine. Investors also seemed encouraged by the company’s completion of key refinancing and consolidation moves, including its full acquisition of the remaining free cash flow interest in the New Afton mine. On a year-to-date basis, NGD stock is now up 53%.
Gildan Activewear, Badger Infrastructure Solutions, and Orla Mining were also among the session’s top gainers on the Toronto Stock Exchange as they jumped by at least 4.8% each.
According to the exchange’s daily trade volume data, Enbridge, Bank of Montreal, Whitecap Resources, Manulife Financial, and TD Bank were the five most active stocks.
TSX today
Crude oil, gold, and silver prices extended their losses for the fourth day in early trading on Thursday, which could put renewed pressure on the commodity-heavy TSX index at the open today.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors may want to keep an eye on the latest weekly jobless claims and monthly manufacturing numbers from the U.S. market this morning.
As the ongoing earnings season continues in full swing, several TSX-listed companies, including ARC Resources, Fairfax Financial, Aritzia, Capstone Copper, Trisura, Canadian National Railway, Eldorado Gold, Pason Systems, Thomson Reuters, Cameco, Bombardier, TC Energy, and AltaGas, will announce their latest quarterly results today. These results will likely draw investors’ attention across multiple sectors and keep the market volatile.
Market movers on the TSX today
