TSX Ends On Strong Note As Materials, Energy Stocks Rally

(RTTNews) - Despite staying sluggish till about an hour past noon, the Canadian market closed on a strong note on Friday thanks to sustained buying in energy and materials shares following a surge in commodity prices.

Consumer staples, communications, utilities and industrials shares were the other prominent gainers, while technology, healthcare and consumer discretionary shares declined sharply.

Upbeat economic data and firm commodity prices outweighed concerns about an escalation in Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 152.02 points or 0.72% at 21,402.43. The index gained about 1.4% in the week.

Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) climbed 7.35% and Nutrien (NTR.TO) gained 6.3%, while Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) and Newmont Corporation (NGT.TO) advanced 5.2% and 4.2%, respectively.

Loblaw Companies (L.TO), George Weston (WN.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), Sprott Inc (SII.TO), , Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) and Waste Connections (WCN.TO) gained 3.4 to 3.75%. Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO) and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) also ended sharply higher.

Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Magna International (MG.TO), Brp Inc (DOO.TO), Linamar Corporation (LNR.TO), Nuvei Corporation (NVEI.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Colliers International (CIGI.TO) and Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) ended lower by 2.5 to 6%.

On the economic front, the value of building permits in Canada fell 8.8% month-over-month to C$ 10.2 billion in January of 2022, data from Statistics Canada showed. In December 2021, building permits had dropped up by an upwardly revised 2.4%.

Another data from Statistics Canada showed labour productivity in Canada declined by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2021, easing from the downwardly revised 1.2% decline in the previous quarter and marking the sixth consecutive quarterly decrease.

The Ivey Purchasing Managers Index in Canada increased to 60.6 in February of 2022 from 50.7 in the prior month, signalling a continued improvement in business conditions in Canada, a report from the Richard Ivey School of Business said. It was the highest reading since November 2021.