Canada Stocks: Toronto market extends record-setting run as gold miners climb

Ballard Power Systems

20/09/2024 21:32

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      TSX ends up 1.28 points at 23,867.55
    

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      Posts a record closing high
    

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      Materials group gains 0.6%
    

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      For the week the index adds 1.3%
    

  
 (Updates at market close)
    By Nikhil Sharma and Fergal Smith
       Sept 20 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index on Friday
inched past the record high it hit a day earlier, helped by
gains for the shares of gold miners and uranium producers but
the move was limited as investors took stock of recent advances
for the market.
    The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
 .GSPTSE  ended up 1.28 points at 23,867.55, moving past the
record closing high it posted the previous day.
    For the week, the index was up 1.3%, its sixth weekly gain
in the last seven weeks, after the Federal Reserve cut interest
rates for the first time in four years, boosting investor
sentiment globally.
    "Today, I think the market (is) just taking a bit of a
breather," said Allan Small, senior investment advisor at Allan
Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth. "I haven't really
seen anything that would warrant caution."
    Domestic data was upbeat. It showed retail sales rising 0.9%
in July from June, eclipsing expectations for a gain of 0.6%,
while a preliminary estimate showed sales increasing 0.5% in
August.
    The materials group, which includes fertilizer companies and
metal mining shares, added 0.6% as the price of gold  XAU= 
climbed 1.3% to notch a record high.
    Uranium producers were among the biggest gainers, with
shares of Cameco Corp  CCO.TO  adding 8.1%.
    Utilities and consumer staples both gained 0.5%, while
industrials were a drag, falling 0.9%, including declines for
railroad shares.
    Energy also lost 0.9% as the recent rebound in oil prices
 CLc1  paused. U.S. crude oil futures  CLc1  settled 3 cents
lower at $71.92 a barrel.

 (Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Nikhil Sharma in
Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo and Deepa Babington)
 ((fergal.smith@thomsonreuters.com; +1 647 480 7446))