TSX Climbs To New Record High; Materials Stocks Rally

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market climbed to a new record high on Thursday, as firm metal prices triggered strong buying in the materials sector, offsetting losses in technology stocks which reeled under pressure on valuation concerns.

Investors also continued to digest Wednesday's rate decisions by the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 168.50 points or 0.53% at 31,659.35 a few minutes past noon.

The Materials Capped Index climbed 3.2%. Perpetua Resources Corp., the biggest gainer in the sector, soared more than 12%. New Gold Inc. gained nearly 7%, while First Majestic Silver Corp, Endeavour Silver Corp, Skeen Resources, Ssr Mining, Eldorado Gold, G Mining Ventures and Nutrien surged 4.5 to 6%.

Agnico Eagle Mines, Wheaton Precious Metals, Iamgold Corp, Alamos Gold, Aya Gold & Silver, Barrick Mining Corp., and Equinox Gold Corp were among the several other major gainers.

Bausch Health Companies, Gildan Activewear, North West Company, FirstService, Interfor, Brookfield Business Partners, Quebecor and Bank of Montreal also moved higher.

Dollarama Inc gained nearly 1%. The company reported a 16.6% increase in third-quarter net earnings at $321.7 million, compared to a year ago. Diluted net earnings surged 19.4% to $1.17 from 0.98% in the year-ago quarter.

The Information Technology Index dropped more than 2%, hurt by valuation concerns, and a profit warning from Oracle and a rating down grade of the stock by analysts. Shopify, Dye & Durham, Celestica, Constellation Software, Docebo, Lightspeed Commerce, Descartes Systems and Kinaxis lost 1 to 3%.

Empire Company shares tanked 9% after the company reported lower earnings in the second quarter. Empire said it posted a profit of C$159 million or C$0.69 per share in the second-quarter, compared to C$173 million or C$0.73 per share last year.

Premium Brands International, Aecon, Telus, Cenovus Energy, Parex Resources, TransAlta, Ballard Power Systems and Canada Natural Resources were among the other notable losers.

Data from Statistics Canada showed Canada posted a trade surplus of C$0.15 billion in September, up from a C$6.3 billion deficit the month before and well above expectations for a C$4.5 billion deficit.

Exports rose 6.3% month on month to C$64.231 billion, the largest monthly increase since February 2024. Meanwhile imports fell 4.1% to C$64.078 billion.