Canadian Market Settles Higher For 3rd Straight Day; TSX Gains 1.1%

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended on a firm note on Wednesday, rising for a third straight session, as some strong earnings updates helped underpin sentiment.

In addition to tracking earnings updates, investors also digested the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which climbed to 19,089.73 intraday, ended with a gain of 205.53 points or 1.09% at 19,079.00.

Utilities, real estate, communications, consumer staples, technology and healthcare stocks moved higher. Several stocks from energy, financials and industrials sectors too posted impressive gains. Materials shares were somewhat subdued.

The Utilities Capped Index climbed 3.69%. Brookfield Infra Partners (BIP.UN.TO) soared nearly 11%. Algonquin Power (AQN.TO), Innergex Renewable Energy (INE.TO) and Boralex Inc (BLX.TO) gained 4 to 5%.

The Real Estate Capped Index surged 2.43%. Allied Properties Real Estate Inv. Trust (AP.UN.TO), the biggest gainer in the index, rallied 5.3%. Northwest Healthcare Prop (NWH.UN.TO) and Choice Properties (CHP.UN.TO) both gained about 4.7%. Crombie Real Estate (CRR.UN.TO) and CT Real Estate (CRT.UN.TO) also posted sharp gains.

Rogers Communications (RCI.B.TO), BCE Inc (BCE.TO) and Telus Corp (T.TO) were among the prominent gainers in the communications sector.

Among consumer staples stocks, Empire Company (EMP.A.TO) and Weston George (WN.TO) gained 2.25% and 2.2%, respectively. Loblaw (L.TO) and Metro Inc (MRU.TO) also rallied sharply.

Technology stocks Dye & Durham (DND.TO) and Coveo Solutions (CVO.TO) climbed 7.8% and 5.3%, respectively. Computer Modeling Group (CMG.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) gained 1.7 to 3.4%.

Healthcare stock Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO), energy stocks Topaz Energy (TPZ.TO), Secure Energy (SES.TO), Advantage Oil & Gas (AAV.TO), Athabasca Oil Corp (ATH.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), and financials shares Manulife Financial (MFC.TO), Onex Corp (ONEX.TO), Goeasy (GSY.TO) and Great-West Lifeco Inc (GWO.TO) also posted impressive gains.

On the economic front, a report from Markit Economics said the S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI edged higher to 48.6 in October of 2023 from 47.5 in the previous month, pointing to the sixth consecutive slowdown in Canadian manufacturing activity.

The Federal Reserve today decided to leave interest rates unchanged at 5.25 to 5.5%, in an effort to support its dual goals of maximum employment and inflation at a rate of 2% over the longer run.

The Fed said in its statement that recent indicators suggest economic activity expanded at a "strong pace" in the third quarter after previously saying activity has been expanding at a "solid pace."

With regard to the outlook for rates, the statement suggests the Fed is still considering additional rate hikes in an effort to return inflation to its 2% objective.