Canada Stocks: TSX snaps six-day losing streak on U.S. inflation relief

BlackBerry

20/12/2024 21:25

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      TSX ends up 0.8% at 24,599.48
    

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      For the week, the index falls 2.7%
    

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      Materials group adds 1.3% as metal prices rise
    

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      BlackBerry shares jump 23.1%
    

  
 (Updates at market close)
    By Fergal Smith
       Dec 20 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index clawed back
some of its large weekly decline on Friday, in a broad-based
move as investors welcomed cooler-than-expected U.S. inflation
data and looked past rising domestic political uncertainty.
    The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
 .GSPTSE  ended up 185.54 points, or 0.8%, at 24,599.48, after
six straight days of declines.
    For the week, the index was down 2.7%, its second straight
weekly decline and its biggest since September 2023.
    "Certainly a strong day today and a lot of that is because
of what we learned south of the border here in the U.S.," said
Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones
in St. Louis, Missouri.
    U.S. stocks also rallied as a smaller-than-expected increase
in the U.S. personal consumption expenditures price index eased
worries about the path of interest rates. Recent signs of sticky
inflation had on Wednesday contributed to the Federal Reserve
signaling a slower pace of rate cuts.
    Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looked set to lose
power early next year after a key ally said he would move to
bring down the minority Liberal government and trigger an
election.
    "I think 2025, the key thing is going to be political
uncertainty in Canada and the U.S., with what's going to happen
with trade and tariffs," Kourkafas said. "In the short term,
some of the developments could create headlines and some market
fluctuations but really it is long-term fundamental drivers that
will determine the outcomes."
    All ten major sectors ended higher, including a gain of 1.3%
for the materials group as a pull-back in the U.S. dollar  .DXY 
boosted gold  XAU=  and copper  HGc1  prices.
    Consumer discretionary and technology also added 1.3%. The
latter was helped by a 23.1% surge in the shares of BlackBerry
Ltd  BB.TO  after the security software firm beat quarterly
revenue estimates.   

 (Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Ragini Mathur in
Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi and Alistair Bell)
 ((fergal.smith@thomsonreuters.com; +1 647 480 7446))