Canadian Market Up In Positive Territory, Looks Set To End On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is up firmly in positive territory Thursday afternoon, led by gains in healthcare, financials and communications shares.

Several stocks from energy, consumer staples and technology sectors are also notably higher.

Investors are largely making their moves, reacting to a slew of quarterly earnings announcements.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 152.17 points or 0.75% at 20,518.89.

Spin Master Corp (TOY.TO) is soaring 11.5%. Colliers International (CIGI.TO), Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.A.TO), National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), Premium Brands Holdings (PBH.TO) and Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) are gaining 1.8 to 3.6%.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) and Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) are also up with notable gains.

Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO) is down 4.3%. The company reported a profit of $302 million or $2.98 per share in the first quarter, compared with a loss of $287 million or $3.09 per share in the same quarter a year ago.

Canadian Utilities Limited (CU.TO) announced first quarter 2023 adjusted earnings of $217 million ($0.81 per share), compared to $219 million ($0.81 per share) in the first quarter of 2022. The stock is down by about 1%.

ATCO Ltd. (ACO.X.TO) reported first quarter 2023 adjusted earnings of $137 million ($1.21 per share), compared to $134 million ($1.17 per share) in the first quarter of 2022. The stock is down marginally.

Mullen Group Ltd. (MTL.TO) shares are up 6.3% after the company reported a net income of $31.7 million for the first quarter of the current fiscal, compared with net income of $19.5 million a year ago.

Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO) is down 3.1%. Waste Connections (WCN.TO) is lower by about 2.5%.

In economic news, Canada's CFIB Business Barometer long-term optimism index increased to a ten-month high of 55.7 in April of 2023 from 55.3 in the previous month, the Canadian Federaion of Independent Business said in its report.