TSX Ends Higher For 3rd Straight Day

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended on a firm note on Wednesday, extending gains to a third session, despite rising fears of a recession.

Gains in energy shares led the market up. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed a significant drop in U.S. crude inventories in the week ended August 23.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 88.06 points, or 0.3, at 16,272.00, after scaling a low of 16,166.28 and a high of 16,294.10 intraday.

Healthcare stocks found support. Information technology shares declined, while shares financial, industrial, materials and utilities sections ended mixed.

Among energy shares, MEG Energy (MEG.TO) soared nearly 10%, Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) spurted 7.7% and Baytex Energy (BTE.TO) gained 5.8%. NuVista Energy (NVA.TO) ended stronger by 5.5%, while Suncor Energy (SU.TO) ended 1.75% up.

In the materials section, Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO) gained 5.75%. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) and Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) advanced by 1.3% and 1.03%, respectively.

In the cannabis space, Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) rallied 3.2%. Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) ended with a modest 0.55% gain.

National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) ended 0.75% up. The bank reported a net profit of $608 million or $1.66 per diluted share for the third quarter ended July 31, compared to net profit of $569 million or $1.52 per diluted share in the year-ago quarter.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO), Laurentian Bank (LB.TO) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) gained 1 to 2%.

Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), Power Corporation of Canada (POW.TO), Alaris Royalty Corp (AD.TO) and Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO) moved up 1 to 1.6%.

U.S. stocks recovered after a weak start and ended higher. The Dow jumped 1%, the Nasdaq gained 0.4% and the S&P 500 climbed 0.7%.

In commodities, crude oil futures for October climbed $0.85 to $55.78 a barrel following the release of a report from U.S. Energy Information Administration showing a steep 10.04 million barrels drop in crude oil inventories in the week dated August 23.

Gold futures for December ended down $2.70, or about 0.2%, at $1,549.10 an ounce.

Silver futures for December settled at $18.450 an ounce, gaining $0.165, while Copper futures for December ended up $0.0115, at $2.5645 per pound.