The Canadian stock market is seeing a positive trend around midday on Thursday, primarily driven by increased performance in industrial, real estate and energy sectors. Investors seem to be mostly reacting to the recent quarterly earnings reports. Comments from the Governor of the Bank of India, Tiff Macklem, regarding the central bank's progress towards reducing interest rates, have solidified this upward trend.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell further influenced the market's positive atmosphere by suggesting that the central bank's next action would likely be a decrease in interest rates.
Shortly after midday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed by 75.34 points – an increase of 0.35%, settling at 21,803.89.
On the economic data front, a report from Statistics Canada illustrated a trade deficit of C$ 2.28 billion for Canada in March. The month saw exports fall to C$ 62.56 billion, while imports decreased to C$ 64.84 billion.
In company news, Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO) saw their stock increase by 5.8% following the announcement of their first-quarter operating profit of US$ 556 million, which reflected a growth from US$ 508 million last year.
Shares of GFL Environmental (GFL.TO) rose by 6.7%, while Bombardier Inc (BBD.A.TO), Cameco Corporation (CCO.TO), CGI Inc (GIB.A.TO), and Stantec (STN.TO) saw increases ranging from 2.5% to 3%.
Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Morguard Corporation (MRC.TO), FirstService Corporation (FSV.TO), TFI International (TFII.TO), WSP Global (WSP.TO) and George Weston (WN.TO) observed market gains between 1 to 1.8%.
However, not all stocks were on the rise. Colliers International Group (CIGI.TO) fell by 1.2% following a first-quarter adjusted earnings report showing a decrease from US$40.6 million or US$0.86 per share in the previous year, to US$37.5 million or US$0.77 per share.
Similarly, Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) experienced a drastic 9% drop despite reporting an increase in profit. The first quarter saw its revenue rise from $1.94 billion in 2023 to $2.15 billion.
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (MFI.TO) also fell by 5% despite displaying better results in the first quarter. The company reported net earnings of $51.6 million ($0.42 per basic share), in contrast to a loss of $57.7 million ($0.48 loss per basic share) last year.
Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) released their adjusted net earnings of $1,474 million for the quarter ending in March 2024, which was down from $1,881 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. This news led to a fractional decrease in their shares.
Lastly, BCE Inc (BCE.TO) shares declined by 2.2%. In its first-quarter report, it was shown that the company's net earnings slid from $788 million last year to $457 million.