TSX Ends On Upbeat Note For 2nd Straight Day

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks closed on a bright note on Thursday, gaining for a second successive session, with investors tracking positive global cues and betting on hopes several central banks will cut interest rates sometime during the second quarter of this year.

Some encouraging earnings updates, and firm commodities contributed as well to the positive sentiment in the market.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a strong gain of 333.29 points or 1.6% at 21,222.69.

Energy stocks rallied, lifting the Energy Capped Index up by 4.26%. The Materials Capped Index climbed 2.31%, while the Utilities and Financials indexes surged 1.66% and 1.59%, respectively. Technology, real estate and healthcare stocks also posted impressive gains.

Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO) and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) climbed 7.7% and 7%, respectively. Cenovus Energy reported a net income of $743 million or $0.39 per share for the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to $784 million or $0.39 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Kelt Exploration (KEL.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Advantage Oil Corp (AAV.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) gained 4 to 6%.

Seabridge Gold (SEA.TO), the top gainer in the Materials Index, soared more than 19%. Ssr Mining (SSRM.TO) climbed 7.65%, while Dundee Precious Metals (DPM.TO), First Majestic Silver (FR.TO), Lundin Gold (LUG.TO), Ero Copper (ERO.TO), Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO) and Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.TO) ended higher by 4 to 5.3%.

Utilities shares Emera Corp (EMA.TO), Brookfield Infra Partners (BIP.UN.TO), Innergex Renewable Energy (INE.TO) and Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP.UN.TO) climbed 3 to 3.5%.

In the financials sector, Manulife Financial (MFC.TO) soared 8.75%. Manulife reported fourth quarter net income of C$1.7 billion, compared to C$915 million in the year ago quarter.

Goeasy (GSY.TO) gained 5.55%. Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) surged 3.4%. Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO), Laurentian Bank (LB.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) and Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO) ended higher by 1 to 2%.

Technology stocks Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO) and Sylogist (SYZ.TO) gained 7.3% and 7.1%, respectively. Dye & Durham (DND.TO), Coveo Solutions (CVO.TO), Computer Modelling (CMG.TO) and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) advanced 3.4 to 5%.

In economic news, data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed housing starts in Canada slipped by 10% over a month earlier to 223,589 units in January.

A report from Statistics Canada said Canada's manufacturing sales declined by 0.7% from a month earlier to C$ 71.2 billion in December 2023, above preliminary estimates of a 0.6% fall. In November, manufacturing sales increased by an upwardly revised 1.5%.