Canadian Stocks Close Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market closed modestly higher on Tuesday, lifted by gains in materials, healthcare and consumer discretionary sectors.

Data showing a drop in Canadian inflation helped underpin sentiment. Concerns about U.S. interest rates, and slowing global economic growth weighed on stocks and limited market's upside.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which dropped to 19,552.24, recovered to 19,768.64 and eventually settled at 19,692.80, gaining 72 points or 0.37%.

The report from Statistics Canada showed the annual inflation rate in Canada declined 3.8% in September from 4% in the previous month. The drop in inflation strengthened expectations that the Bank of Canada will likely refrain from further rate hikes.

On a monthly basis, the consumer price inflation fell by 0.1% in September, the first reduction of the year.

Core inflation fell annually to 2.8% in September, the lowest since June 2021, slowing down from 3.3% in the prior month.

Another data from Statistics Canada showed 158,531 new vehicles were sold in Canada in August, compared to the 147,401 registrations in the previous month.

Bausch + Lomb Corporation (BLCO.TO), Cameco Corporation (CCO.TO), Tecsys Inc (TCS.TO), MTY Food Group (MTY.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) and Tourmaline Corporation (TOU.TO) gained 2 to 4.5%.

Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Nutrien (NTR.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO) and Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO) also ended notably higher.

Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO) ended nearly 5% down. Snc-Lavalin (ATRL.TO), Laurentian Bank (LB.TO), Wajax Corporation (WJX.TO), CCL Industries (CCL.B.TO) and Enbridge Inc (ENB.TO) ended lower by 1.5 to 2.7%.