TSX Ends On Firm Note As Technology, Consumer Discretionary Stocks Rally

(RTTNews) - Canadian benchmark stock index ended with a modest gain on Friday, lifted by strong gains in technology and consumer discretionary sectors. Upbeat earnings updates from big name U.S. companies Intel and Amazon contributed significantly to the firm undertone on Bay Street.

Investors also digested the latest batch of Canadian and U.S. economic data, and looked ahead to next week's U.S. presidential election and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed to 24,365.11 by late morning, but pared a substantial portion of its gains as the day progressed and eventually closed up 98.29 points or 0.41% at 24,255.16. The index recorded a weekly loss of 0.85%.

The Consumer Discretionary Capped Index gained almost 2%. The Information Technology Capped Index climbed 1.25% and the Healthcare Capped Index closed up 1.66%.

Aecon Group Inc (ARE.TO) shares soared nearly 19%. Air Canada (AC.TO) zoomed about 14%. Air Canada reported net income of C$2.035 billion or C$5.38 per share for the third quarter, lower than C$1.250 or C$3.08 per share in the same quarter a year ago.

Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) jumped more than 9%, Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) gained about 7.4% and Dayforce (DAY.TO) gained 7.3%. Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO) and Magna International (MG.TO) both ended higher by about 6.5%. Magna International announced that its board has approved a proposal to buy back up to around 28.5 million shares, or approximately 10% of the public float.

Stella-Jones (SJ.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO), Morguard Corporation (MRU.TO), Terravest Industries (TVK.TO) and West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO) climbed 2 to 3.4%.

Constellation Software (CSU.TO), FirstService Corporation (FSV.TO), Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO) and Intact Financial Corporation (IFC.TO) also ended notably higher.

Ensign Energy Services (ESI.TO) gained nearly 4% after reporting net income of C$5.3 million or C$0.03 per common share for the third-quarter of this financial year, compared to a net loss of C$5.2 million or C$0.03 per common share, a year ago.

Eldorado Gold Corporation (ELD.TO) ended down 5.8% despite reporting turnaround results. The company reported net earnings of $101.1 million or $0.49 per share for the third-quarter, compared to last year's loss of $6.6 million or $0.03 per share.

Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) closed lower by 5.1%. Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO), Emera Incorporated (EMA.TO), Capital Power Corporation (CPX.TO), goeasy (GSY.TO), Molson Coors Canada Inc (TPX.B.TO), Cogeco Communications (CCA.TO) and Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO) also ended notably lower.

In economic news, a report from S&P Global said that its Canada Manufacturing PMI rose to 51.1 in October from 50.4 in the previous month, marking the second consecutive expansion in the nation's factory activity after 17 consecutive monthly contractions.