FX.co ★ TSX Ends Marginally Up, Gains 0.5% In Week

The Canadian market concluded last Friday on a slightly positive note, boosted by the healthcare, materials and utilities sectors. Nevertheless, investors remained cautious in anticipation of the forthcoming U.S. central bank's monetary policy meeting.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index, which had slid down to 21,788.67 a little over midday, finished the day's trading at 21,849.15, adding 19.30 points or 0.09%. The index saw a total gain of approximately 0.51% during the week.

Both Ero Copper and Russel Metals enjoyed substantial growth of 4.5% and 4.4% respectively. Other notable performers included Molson Coors Canada Inc, Cameco Corporation, Stelco Holdings, Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation, and Stella-Jones, which saw their shares increase between 2.5 and 3.1%.

Tourmaline Oil Corp and Alimentation Couche-Tard also appreciated, with 1.8% and 1.5% increases respectively, with Waste Connections and goeasy also posting strong gains.

However, Premium Brands Holdings Corporation's shares declined by 2.3% following their reported decrease in earnings for the fourth quarter of 2023. The report shows adjusted earnings standing at $37.9 million or $0.85 per share, compared to $52.9 million or $1.19 per share during the same period in 2022.

Enghouse Systems also saw a decrease by approximately 4.4%. Other firms such as Restaurant Brands International, Dayforce, Morguard Corporation, Shopify Inc, Kinaxis and BRP Inc ended the day lower, with decreases ranging between 1.4 and 2.5%.

On the matter of housing, data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed a 14% monthly increase in housing starts in Canada, up to 253,468 units in February.

Furthermore, unexpected data from Statistics Canada showed a slight increase of 0.1% month-on-month in Canadian wholesale sales to C$82.4 billion in January, following a revised decline of 0.3% in December 2023.