Canada Stocks: Toronto stocks rise as resource-linked stocks advance
12/09/2024 16:04
(Updated at 10:09 a.m. ET/ 1409 GMT)
By Nikhil Sharma
Sept 12 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on
Thursday, helped by gains in mining stocks, after the latest
U.S. economic data further consolidated the possibility of a
quarter-basis-point rate cut next week.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE was up 87.91 points, or 0.38%, at 23,299.08 and was
hovering near a record high.
Canada's materials .GSPTTMT sector led the gains with a
2.8% jump, helped by record-high gold prices along with a surge
in copper. GOL/ MET/L
Leading the index were B2Gold Corp BTO.TO and OceanaGold
Corp OGC.TO that gained 8.7% and 6.6%, respectively, whereas
Equinox Gold Corp EQX.TO rose 5.5%.
Domestic markets also reacted to economic data from the
United States, including the U.S. producer prices that rose
slightly more than expected in August, but the trend remained
consistent with subsiding inflation that confirmed the
possibility of a quarter-point cut by the Federal Reserve.
Markets are pricing in an 87% chance of a 25-basis points
reduction at the Sept. 18 policy meeting, while bets for a
50-bps cut stand at a mere 13%. 0#FEDWATCH
"Pundits have been a little too optimistic in the rate at
which rates could come down," said Michael Sprung, president at
Sprung Investment Management.
U.S. weekly jobless claims rose marginally last week,
pointing to a still-low level of layoffs even as the labor
market slows.
Back home, among the biggest laggards in the index, Shopify
Inc SHOP.TO was down 2.2%, GFL Environmental GFL.TO
dropped 1.7%, and Ballard Power Systems BLDP.TO slid 1.1%.
The most heavily traded shares by volume were B2gold Corp
BTO.TO , Altagas Ltd ALA.TO and Calibre Mining Corp CXB.TO .
The TSX's heavyweights energy group .SPTTEN climbed 1%,
while the financials sector .SPTTFS rose 0.2%.
In oil markets, prices indicated by the West Texas
Intermediate crude futures CLc1 rose 0.92%, while Brent crude
LCOc1 rose 0.78% O/R . Gold gained more than 1%.
Crude oil and gold are among Canada's top exports.
The TSX is up 11.4% for the year.
(Reporting by Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya
Biswas)
((Nikhil.Sharma@thomsonreuters.com;))