The Canadian market closed strongly on Thursday, rebounding after breaking its five-day winning streak the day before. This turnaround was prompted by the latest U.S. unemployment data, which indicated a larger-than-anticipated rise in jobless claims—raising prospects of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in September.
Notably, the Market experienced significant upticks in the Materials and Communications sectors, as well as Energy, Utilities, Real Estate and Financials. However, Tech stocks slumped slightly, even as shares across other sectors offered a mixed performance.
The principal S&P/TSX Composite Index, opening barely higher at 22,287.01, climbed to a one-month peak of 22,426.97. It finished the day with a 0.52% or 116.67 points rise at 22,375.83.
Among individual stocks, Wesdome Gold Mines (WDO.TO) and Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS.TO) witnessed a surge of 11.1% and 10.3% respectively, leading the Materials Capped Index to ascend by 2.15%. In the same vein, Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO) leaped 8.4% while Fortuna Silver Mines (FVI.TO) jumped 7.5%. B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO), Stelco Holdings (STLC.TO), and New Gold Inc (NGD.TO) also registered growth within the 5-6% range.
Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO) experienced nearly a 7% hike following its announcement of a first-quarter net income of C$96.0 million, a notable rise from the previous year's C$42.8 million. Linamar Corporation (LNR.TO) rallied 6.8%. Meanwhile, Nutrien (NTR.TO) rose 4.5% and stocks like Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.A.TO), Methanex Corporation (MX.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) and Colliers International (CIGI.TO) saw increases between 2% and 4%.
Despite reporting weaker quarterly profits, iA Financial Corporation (IAG.TO) saw a near 4% growth. The company revealed a first-quarter net income for 2024 of $234 million, down from the previous year's $273 million.
Quebecor Inc (QBR.TO) added a roughly 2.5% gain to the day's activities. The tech company posted a 19.9% first-quarter increase, reflecting an adjusted income from operating activities of $163.1 million ($0.71 per basic share), up $27.1 million ($0.12 per basic share) from 2023.
Lastly, Telus International (TIXT.TO) endured a near 19% fall due to underwhelming results. Its first-quarter net income came in at a disappointing $140 million, a 37.5% drop from the previous year's $224 million.