TSX Ends Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended modestly higher on Thursday, led by gains in technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which rose to a one-month high at 19,516.36 early on in the session, gave up most of its gains as the day progressed and finally settled at 19,352.11, up 72.35 points or 0.38% from the previous close.

A few stocks from financials, utilities and communications sectors posted notable gains. Healthcare stocks declined sharply. Materials and energy stocks turned in a mixed performance.

The Information Technology Capped Index climbed 3.89%. Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) soared 17.1% after the company reported a smaller-than-expected loss in the latest quarter.

Shopify reported adjusted net loss of $30 million in the third quarter of this financial year, compared with adjusted net income of $102.8 million in the year-ago quarter. The company was expected to post adjusted net loss of $0.08 per share.

Quarterhill (QTRH.TO), Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO), Magnet Forensics (MAGT.TO) and Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) gained 2 to 3%.

CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO), Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO), IA Financial Corp (IAG.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) and Great-West Lifeco Inc (GWO.TO) gained 1 to 3.3%.

Transalta Corp (TA.TO) surged nearly 3%. Boralex (BLX.TO), Atco (ACO.X.TO) and Capital Power Corp (CPX.TO) gained 1.5 to 2%.

TC Energy Corporation (TRP.TO), Air Canada (AC.TO), Methanex Corporation (MX.TO), Nutrien (NTR.TO) and WSP Global (WSP.TO) also posted strong gains.

Park Lawn Corporation (PLC.TO) ended nearly 9% down. Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO) and TFI International (TFII.TO) ended lower by 4 to 5.1%.

Cameco Corporation (CCO.TO) lost more than 4%. The company reported adjusted net earnings of $10 million for the quarter ended September 2022, as against adjusted net loss of $54 million in the year-ago quarter.

In economic news, a report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Canada's CFIB's Business Barometer long-term optimism index, which is based on a 12-month outlook, fell to 51.4 in October of 2022 from a downwardly revised 52.4 in September, the lowest since April 2020.

Data from Statistics Canada showed average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees in Canada rose for the 15th consecutive month, surging by 3.2% year-on-year to C$ 1,170.14 in August of 2022.