TSX Hits Record High; Shopify Surges 17% On Earnings

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market rose to a new record high Wednesday morning, lifted by strong gains in materials, technology and consumer discretionary sectors. Energy, industrials and consumer staples stocks shed ground, limiting market's upside.

Fairly buoyant earnings updates and optimism about U.S.-Iran peace talks contributed to market's rise.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which climbed to 36,443.29 this morning, was up 367.80 points or 1.03% at 36,169.39 about a quarter past noon.

The Materials Capped Index moved up nearly 6% as several stocks in the sector rallied on firm precious metals prices. Eldorado Gold Corporation soared 12% and Discovery Mining jumped 10%. Novagold Resources, I 80 Gold Corp., Avino Silver & Gold Mines, Agnico Eagle Mines, Wesdome Gold Mines and Americas Cold & Silver Corporation surged 8%-9.5%.

The Information Technology Capped Index moved up 3.1%. Shopify zoomed 20% before easing slightly but still remained up with a strong gain of 17%. Shopify reported second-quarter net income of $1,502 million, compared with $906 million in the year-ago quarter. The company said it expects revenue to grow at a low-thirties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis in the third quarter.

iA Financial Corporation Inc. shares gained 3.3% after the company said its net income attributed to common shareholders went 20% up to C$384 million in the second-quarter from C$321 million in the previous year. Earnings per share rose to C$4.28 from C$3.43 in the prior year.

RB Global, Inc soared 14% after the company reported a net income of $132 million or $0.71 per share in the second quarter, compared with $99.5 million or $0.53 per share in the same quarter previous year.

Thomson Reuters moved higher on encouraging results. The company reported a 9% increase in second-quarter revenue and raised its full-year organic revenue growth forecast to around 8%.