Even though continued tech sector selloff south of the border pressured global sentiment, Canadian equities showed resilience on Wednesday with the help of largely robust corporate earnings and firm commodity prices. The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed by 183 points, or 0.6%, to close at 32,572 — marking its third consecutive winning day.
Nearly all key market sectors, except technology, ended the session in the green, but the TSX rally was mainly led by solid gains in consumer discretionary, real estate, and industrial stocks.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
While many popular tech stocks plunged sharply in intraday trading, Constellation Software (TSX:CSU) jumped 8.5% to around $2,483 per share, making it the top-performing TSX stock for the day. This rally in CSU stock came after the Toronto-based software and services giant’s Volaris Group announced the acquisition of Zonal, a U.K.-headquartered provider of point‑of‑sale and hospitality software solutions.
The deal is a part of Constellation’s long‑standing strategy of expanding its portfolio of mission‑critical vertical market software businesses through disciplined acquisitions. CSU stock surged as this acquisition highlighted Constellation’s focus on long-term growth despite broader weakness across the tech sector.
Shares of FirstService (TSX:FSV) surged over 7%, and ATS (TSX:ATS) rose 6.4% after posting their quarterly earnings. FirstService delivered strong annual results with its adjusted earnings climbing 15% to US$5.75 per share and full-year revenue rising 5% to US$5.5 billion, driven by steady growth across its residential platform.
Meanwhile, ATS impressed investors with a 17% year-over-year jump in its quarterly revenue to $760.7 million and a 50% spike in adjusted earnings to 48 cents per share. Its order backlog also remained strong at over $2 billion, highlighting sustained demand. The upbeat earnings and positive outlooks helped lift both TSX stocks sharply.
West Fraser Timber and Alamos Gold were also among the day’s top gainers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with each advancing by more than 6%.
On the flip side, Energy Fuels, Bitfarms, Enerflex, and Denison Mines dived by at least 9.9% each, making them the session’s worst-performing TSX stocks.
Based on their daily trade volume, Telus, Enbridge, Suncor Energy, Manulife Financial, and Barrick Mining were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices, especially metals, trended lower in early morning trading on Thursday, which could pressure the resource-heavy main TSX index at the open today.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, TSX investors may want to keep an eye on the latest jobless claims data from the U.S. and Bank of Canada (BoC) governor Tiff Macklem’s speech today. These two events could shape investor sentiment throughout the day.
On the corporate events front, several TSX-listed companies, including ARC Resources, Saputo, Open Text, TMX Group, Thomson Reuters, Barrick Mining, Lightspeed Commerce, and BCE,will release their latest quarterly earnings today, which could keep these stocks in focus throughout the day.
Market movers on the TSX today
