Canada Stocks: Resource shares lift Toronto market to fresh record high

Iamgold

01/04/2024 21:50

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      TSX ends up 0.1% at 22,185.25
    

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      Materials sector climbs 1.5%; gold hits new record high
    

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      Energy gains 1.2%; oil settles at highest since October
    

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      Ballard Power Systems shares surge 18%
    

  
 (Updates at market close)
    By Fergal Smith
       April 1 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index edged up
to a new all-time high on Monday as investors cheered recent
signs of economic growth, with gains for resource shares
offseting declines for utilities and heavily-weighted
financials.
    The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
 .GSPTSE  ended up 18.22 points, or 0.1%, at 22,185.25,
eclipsing Friday's record high closing level.
    "I wouldn't be surprised to see some back and fill but the
path of least resistance is up because we have decent growth but
slowing inflation, so interest rates shouldn't really be a big
problem," said Joseph Abramson, co-chief investment officer at
Northland Wealth Management.    
    "The key issue is the action beneath the surface, where
we're still driven by this narrow group and so the sectors that
Canada tends to have more exposure to, the banks and energy and
materials, still participate but in all likelihood
underperform," Abramson said.
    The TSX has gained 5.9% since the start of the year,
trailing a gain of nearly 10% for the S&P 500 which has been
aided by optimism over AI-related stocks.
    The materials sector, which includes metal miners and
fertilizer companies, climbed 1.5% as gold moved to a fresh
record high and copper prices rose.
    Energy was also up, rising 1.2%, as the price of oil  CLc1 
settled 0.7% higher at $83.71 a barrel, its highest closing
level since October.    
    Ballard Power Systems  BLDP.TO  was a standout. Its shares
surged 18% after the fuel cell maker announced its largest ever
order.    
    Private equity firm Advent International has agreed to buy
Nuvei  NVEI.TO  in an all-cash deal that values the Ryan
Reynolds-backed payments technology firm at $6.3 billion.
Nuvei's shares added 2.7%.
    Financials were a drag, falling 0.6%, while the utilities
group was down 0.8% as bond yields climbed following data that
showed growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector.

 (Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Purvi Agarwal in
Bengaluru; Editing by Shweta Agarwal and Costas Pitas)
 ((fergal.smith@thomsonreuters.com; +1 647 480 7446))