Canada Stocks: TSX ends higher, wraps up week with gains

Altus

23/02/2024 21:28

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      TSX reaches highest level since April 2022 
    

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      Materials, tech stocks lead gains
    

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      Altus Corp, CI Financial among top gainers 
    

  
 (Updates to close)
       Feb 23 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index gained on
Friday, wrapping up the week on a positive note, helped by gains
in material and tech stocks. 
    The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
 .GSPTSE  was up 95.07 points, or 0.45%, at 21,413.15.
        The index hit its highest level since April 2022 and
posted a weekly gain after a tech-fuelled rally in the previous
session.
  
        The materials sector  .GSPTTMT  gained 1.3% helped by
higher gold and nickel prices.  GOL/  
  
    Heavyweight financials  .SPTTFS  rose 0.6%, boosted by a
4.5% gain in investment manager CI Financial  CIX.TO , whose
fourth-quarter profit beat estimates.
    Technology stocks  .SPTTTK  were 1.3% higher, powered by a
17% surge in Docebo  DCBO.TO  after the software company's
fourth-quarter results beat analysts' estimates. 
    "These technical positives underscore our longstanding
belief that we are in the midst of a continuing bull market for
equities. While we anticipate periodic volatility, stocks should
continue to sawtooth their way to higher levels," said Brandon
Michael, senior investment analyst at ABC Funds.
    Energy shares  .SPTTEN , however, were among the biggest
drag on the index, with a 0.2% decline, tracking a drop in oil
prices on receding rate cut bets after the policymaker's
comments.  O/R  
    U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on
Thursday U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers should delay interest
rate cuts by at least another couple more months.
    Quarterly earnings from banks, including Bank of Montreal
 BMO.TO , Bank of Nova Scotia  BNS.TO  and the Royal Bank of
Canada  RY.TO  will also be on the radar next week, with
financials having the heaviest weight on the index. 
    "People will be looking to see how is the Canadian economy
impacting the banks. If the bank results come in good, that
means the Canadian economy is doing reasonably well and there's
less pressure on the Bank of Canada to cut rates", said Colin
Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.
    Among other stocks, real estate intelligence service
provider Altus Group  AIF.TO  climbed 8% and Hudbay Minerals
 HBM.TO  gained 4.7% after upbeat quarterly profit.

 (Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru and Nivedita Balu in
Toronto; Editing by Ravi Prakash Kumar and David Gregorio)
 ((Purvi.Agarwal@thomsonreuters.com))