Canada Stocks: TSX gains as investors cheer positive corporate earnings

Tetra Bio Pharma

21/04/2021 15:28

(Updates prices, adds details and sectors)
    April 21 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on
Wednesday as a raft of upbeat corporate earnings lifted investor
sentiment and expectations of a swift economic recovery, though
lower oil prices capped further gains.
    * At 9:50 a.m. ET (1350 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's
S&P/TSX Composite Index  .GSPTSE  was up 47.51 points, or 0.25%,
at 19,087.41.
    * Rogers Communications Inc  RClb.TO  gained 2.3% after the
Canadian telecoms operator trumped first-quarter revenue
estimates, buoyed by strong demand in its cable unit that
provides internet and cloud-based services.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2ME2S9
    * Aiding sentiment, food retailer Metro Inc  MRU.TO  also
beat analyst expectations at 62 cents per share, while revenue
rose 5.1% to $3.33 billion from a year ago​ when analysts had
expected $3.31 billion.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2ME4T4
    * Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada sharply hiked its outlook
for the economy and said it expected slack to be absorbed in the
second half of 2022, suggesting rates could rise sooner than the
previous forecast of sometime in 2023.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nT5N2JF02N
    * Canada's annual inflation rate doubled to 2.2% in March,
mainly due to a statistical difference caused by last year's
sharp deceleration during the pandemic and rising energy prices,
Statistics Canada said on Wednesday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2ME13T
    * The energy sector  .SPTTEN  dropped 0.1% as U.S. crude
 CLc1  prices were down 2.1% a barrel, while Brent crude  LCOc1 
lost 1.8%.  O/R 
    * The financials sector  .SPTTFS  gained 0.1% while the
industrials sector  .GSPTTIN  edged 0.3% higher.
    * The materials sector  .GSPTTMT , which includes precious
and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.5% as
gold futures  GCc1  rose 0.5% to $1,785.7 an ounce.  GOL/ 
 MET/L 
    * On the TSX, 152 issues were higher, while 64 issues
declined for a 2.38-to-1 ratio favouring gainers, with 15.39
million shares traded.
    * The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Rogers
Communications  RCIb.TO  and Gildan Activewear  GIL.TO , which
advanced 2.2% each.
    * West Fraser Timber Ord  WFG.TO  fell 3.9%, the most on the
TSX, while the second-biggest decliner was Ballard Power
 BLDP.TO , down 3.0%. 
    * The most heavily traded shares by volume were Royal Bank
of Canada  RY.TO , Tetra Bio-Pharma  TBP.TO  and Zenabis Global
Inc  ZENA.TO .
    * The TSX posted 23 new 52-week highs and no new lows.
    * Across all Canadian issues there were 62 new 52-week highs
and no new lows, with total volume of 28.56 million shares.

 (Reporting by Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya
Soni and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((Shashank.Nayar@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223
8780; outside U.S. +91 80 6182 2256;))