Canada Stocks: TSX hits 4-week high as investors eye 'beaten-down' sectors

iA

09/01/2023 21:50

(Adds investor quotes and details throughout, updates prices)

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      TSX ends up 42.56 points, or 0.2%, at 19,857.07
    

        * 
      Technology rises nearly 1%
    

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      Energy gains 0.6%; oil settles 1.2% higher
    

        * 
      Canaccord Genuity Group shares soar 29.5% 
    

  
    By Fergal Smith
       TORONTO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index
rose on Monday to its highest closing level in nearly four weeks
as investors snapped up stocks in some of the most depressed
sectors of the market amid hopes that central banks would ease
the pace of interest rate hikes.
    The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
 .GSPTSE  ended up 42.56 points, or 0.2%, at 19,857.07, its
highest closing level since Dec. 14.
    "Market moves on a day-to-day basis are very much being
dictated by the inflation picture and central bank actions. That
has not changed (from 2022)," said Elvis Picardo, portfolio
manager at Luft Financial, iA Private Wealth.
    The U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index  .SPX  closed barely
changed as expectations that the Federal Reserve will become
less aggressive with its interest rate hikes were offset by
lingering worries about inflation.
    "It does seem like, even though market participants are
braced for a recession, the tone, at least for the first few
days of this year, has been encouraging," Picardo said. "We are
seeing some buying come back into the beaten-down groups like
technology." 
    The Toronto market's technology sector lost 35.7% in 2022.
It was up nearly 1% on Monday, while energy gained 0.6% as oil
 CLc1  settled 1.2% higher at $74.63 a barrel. Oil rose after
China reopened its borders, boosting the outlook for fuel
demand.
    A standout among individual names was financial services
firm Canaccord Genuity Group Inc  CF.TO . Its shares soared
29.5% after a group led by the company's management said it
would launch a takeover bid at nearly C$1.13 billion ($845
million).
    Cannabis producer Tilray Brands Inc  TLRY.TO  was one of the
laggards. Its shares fell 8.1% after the company reported a
second-quarter loss.
 (Reporting by Fergal Smith; Additional reporting by Shristi
Achar A and Johann M Cherian; Editing by Will Dunham)
 ((fergal.smith@thomsonreuters.com; +1 647 480 7446;))