Canada Stocks: TSX notches record high as Fed easing boosts liquidity prospects

Celestica

19/09/2024 21:41

* 
      TSX ends up 1.2% at 23,866.27
    

        * 
      Technology advances 3%
    

        * 
      Energy adds 1.9% as oil settles 1.5% higher
    

        * 
      TD Bank names new CEO; stock rises 2.4%
    

  
 (Updates at market close)
    By Fergal Smith
       Sept 19 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index climbed to
a record high on Thursday, led by technology and
commodity-linked stocks, as investors bet that the Federal
Reserve's outsized interest rate cut could spur a shift from
cash into riskier assets globally.
    The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
 .GSPTSE  ended up 273.67 points, or 1.2%, at 23,866.27,
eclipsing Monday's all-time closing high.
    Wall Street also rallied after the Fed kicked off its easing
cycle on Wednesday with a half-percentage-point reduction in
rates, rather than a quarter-percentage-point move.
    "Traders seem to have decided to take the rate cut news as
positive for liquidity, overshadowing concerns that rate cuts
could be a sign of a weakening economy," Colin Cieszynski, chief
market strategist at SIA Wealth Management, said in a note.
    Lower U.S. interest rates reduce the cost of borrowing U.S.
dollars. The Fed's move could also encourage other central
banks, such as the Bank of Canada, to cut rates at a faster
pace, analysts say.    
    The technology sector rose 3%, helped by a gain of 5.6% for
electronic equipment company Celestica Inc  CLS.TO . Energy was
up 1.9% as the price of oil  CLc1  settled 1.5% higher at $71.95
a barrel.
    Gold and copper prices also rose, leading to gains for metal
mining stocks. The materials group, which includes metal miners
and fertilizer companies, added 1.6%.
    TD Bank CEO Bharat Masrani will retire next year and hand
over the job to the head of its Canadian banking unit Ray Chun,
as Canada's second-biggest lender braces for expected U.S. fines
for weakness in its anti-money laundering protocols.
    Shares of TD  TD.TO  rose 2.4%, while the financials sector
ended 1.3% higher.

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