TSX Posts Fresh Closing High As Stocks Rise After Early Weakness

(RTTNews) - After swinging between gains and losses till an hour past noon, the Canadian stock market climbed higher to eventually close on a firm note on Wednesday.

Healthcare, materials and energy stocks moved higher, contributing substantially to market's positive close. A few stocks from financial and consumer discretionary sectors too moved up, while consumer staples and information technology stocks were a bit weak.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 109.09 points or 0.58% at 18,983.10, after hitting a new record high of 19,037.13.

Healthcare stocks Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) and Aphria Inc. (APHA.TO) gained 3.8% and 2.1%, respectively. Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) ended higher by 1.5% and Trillium Therapeutics (TRIL.TO) gained 1.05%.

In the materials space, Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO) rallied 7%, while B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Oceanagold (OGC.TO), New Gold (NGD.TO), Centerra Gold (CG.TO), Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), Endeavour Mining (EDV.TO) and Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO) gained 4 to 5.2%. Several other stocks, including Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS.TO), Seabridge Gold (SEA.TO) and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) also ended sharply higher.

In the energy space, Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO) climbed nearly 8%, Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) gained 5.6%, MEG Energy (MEG.TO) ended 4.6% up and Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) gained 4.3%.

Among financial stocks, Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.A.TO) and Onex Corp (ONEX.TO) gained 4% and 3.1%, respectively. Laurentian Bank (LB.TO), Manulife Financial (MFC.TO) and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) ended higher by 1 to 1.4%.

Consumer discretionary stocks Magna International (MG.TO) and Sleep Country Canada Holdings (ZZZ.TO) ended sharply higher.

Data released by Statistics Canada showed annual inflation rate in Canada rose to 1.1% in February, from 1% in January. Although it was the steepest inflation rate in a year, it was below market expectations of 1.3%. Month on month, the consumer price index rose 0.5% in February.

Core consumer prices in Canada increased 1.2% in February of 2021 over the same month in the previous year.