Canadian Market Ends On Positive Note; TSX Scales New High

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended higher on Thursday, with fairly encouraging Canadian and U.S. GDP data aiding sentiment. Higher oil and gold prices helped as well.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which rose to a record high of 22,220.91, moving past the previous high of 22,213.07 recorded in April 2022, ended with a gain of 59.95 points or 0.27% at 22,167.03, a new closing high. The index gained 0.83% in the holiday shortened week.

Materials shares rallied as gold prices moved higher. Energy stocks had a good outing as well, tracking higher crude oil prices. Shares from utilities sector also posted notable gains.

Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO) soared 11.5%. The company said it posted a net income $6.2 million in the six months ended December 31, 2023, compared to net loss of $81.3 million in the corresponding period in 2022.

Seabridge Gold (SEA.TO) surged 9.2% despite reporting a wider net loss for the financial year 2023. The company said it posted a net loss of $29.3 million in 2023, compared to a net loss of $7.4 million a year earlier.

BRP Inc (DOO.TO) climbed 5.4% after reporting net income of C$188.2 million or C$2.46 per share for the fourth quarter, lower than C$365.1 million or C$4.54 per share in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue for the quarter declined to C$2.692 billion from C$3.076 billion in the previous year.

For fiscal 2025, BRP expects normalized earnings per share to be in the range of $7.25 to $8.25. Revenue for the year is expected between $9.1 billion and $9.5 billion.

Teck Resources (TECK.A.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), Novagold (NG.TO), MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), First Majestic Silver (FR.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO), Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO), Kinross Gold (K.TO), Filo Mining (FIL.TO), Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) and B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO) 3 to 7.5%.

Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Brookfield Infra Partners (BIP.UN.TO), AltaGas (ALA.TO), Algonquin Power (AQN.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Prairiesky Royalty (PSK.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO) and Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) were among the other major gainers in the session.

According to preliminary estimates, Canada's economy is expected to have grown by 0.4% in February 2024, with increases in mining, quarrying, & oil & gas extraction, manufacturing, and finance & insurance offsetting decreases in utilities.

In January, the GDP expanded by 0.6%, more than the preliminary estimate of 0.4%,

Another data from Statistics Canada showed average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees in Canada rose by 3.9% year-on-year to $1,228 in January 2024,

A report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said that its business barometer in Canada, a long-term index reflecting 12-month forward expectations for business performance in the country, fell to 52.7 in March, from an upwardly revised 55.1 in February.

Data from the Commerce Department showed the U.S. economy unexpectedly grew by more than previously estimated in the fourth quarter of 2023.