Canadian stocks trended higher for a second consecutive day on the final trading session of October as investors reacted positively to largely better-than-expected corporate earnings. The S&P/TSX Composite Index advanced by 82 points, or 0.3%, on Friday to settle at 30,261 — ending October with a 0.8% gain to mark the benchmark’s sixth monthly advance in a row.
Despite weakness in commodity-linked stocks, solid gains in many other key sectors, including healthcare, real estate, and technology, helped power the TSX to another monthly win.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Methanex (TSX: MX) jumped over 16% to $55.20 per share after JP Morgan upgraded its recommendation on the stock to “overweight” from “neutral.” This upgrade came a couple of days after the Vancouver-based methanol producer posted a strong operational update, with third-quarter production surging 36% sequentially to 2.21 million tons with the help of strong contributions from its newly acquired U.S. facilities.
In the latest quarter, the company also generated US$184 million in cash from operations and repaid US$125 million in debt. Notably, Methanex now expects higher earnings in the fourth quarter as sales volumes increase. Despite the recent rally, however, MX stock is still down 23% on a year-to-date basis.
Toromont Industries, Baytex Energy, and Bausch Health were also among the day’s top gainers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with each climbing by at least 6.8%.
In contrast, B2Gold, Energy Fuels, MDA Space, and Perpetua Resources slid by at least 4.5% each, making them the session’s worst-performing TSX stocks.
Based on their daily trade volume, Discovery Silver, Ivanhoe Mines, B2Gold, Parkland, and Cenovus Energy were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices were largely mixed in early morning trading on Monday, setting the stage for a potentially muted start for the resource-heavy TSX index — though firm natural gas and minor gains in gold prices may lend some support.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors may want to keep an eye on the latest manufacturing data from the U.S. this morning. In the afternoon, Bank of Canada (BoC) governor Tiff Macklem’s remarks will also be closely watched for any additional clues on the central bank’s policy outlook following last week’s rate cut.
On the corporate events side, many TSX-listed companies, including Energy Fuels, Franco-Nevada, Topaz Energy, Gibson Energy, CT Real Estate Investment Trust, and Paramount Resources, will release their latest quarterly earnings reports today, which could keep their stocks active throughout the trading session.
Market movers on the TSX today
