TSX Ends More Than 1% Up

(RTTNews) - After a weak start and a subsequent recovery, the Canadian market slipped into negative territory around early afternoon on Friday, but gained in strength after that with stocks from industrials, financials, utilities and consumer staples attracting buyers.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 265.21 points or 1.06% at 25,393.45. The index gained about 1% in the week, but posted a month loss of over 1%.

Pembina Pipeline Corporation rallied 7.1%. GFL Environmental climbed 5%. Royal Bank of Canada, Enbridge, IGM Financial, TMX Group, RB Global, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Brookfield Wealth Solutions and AtkinsRealis gained 2 to 5%.

Waste Connections, Fairfax Financial Holdings, Constellation Software, TFI International, Sun Life Financial, Canadian National Railway, Alimentation Couche-Tard, Wheaton Precious Metal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Thomson Reuters also posted strong gains.

Docebo Inc tanked nearly 14% after the company's fourth-quarter revenue fell short of expectations, and on a disappointing guidance by the company for the current quarter.

Laurentian Bank ended down 3.4%. The bank reported net income of $38.6 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.76 , compared with $37.3 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.75 for the first quarter of 2024.

CGI Inc closed lower by 5.8%. Winpak, Jamieson Wellness, Pason Systems, Stella-Jones, TerraVest Industries, AutoCanada, Velan Inc., and International Petroleum Corporation also declined sharply.

Data from Statistics Canada said the Canadian GDP rose by 0.6% over a quarter in the three months to December of 2024, following an upwardly revised 0.3% increase in the prior period.

The Canadian GDP increased by 0.3% from the previous month in January of 2025, according to a flash estimate.

A report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said the Business Barometer long-term index in Canada, which is based on 12-month forward expectations for business performance, declined for a third straight month to 49.5 in February 2025, the lowest in ten months, compared to a downwardly revised 54.5 in January.

The U.S. Commerce Department said the annual rate of growth by the PCE price index slowed to 2.5% in January from 2.6% in December, which also matched expectations.

Excluding food and energy prices, the core PCE price still climbed by 0.3% in January after edging up by 0.2% in December. The increase by core prices was also in line with estimates. The annual rate of core PCE price growth slowed to 2.6% in January from 2.9% in December, which also matched expectations.

The report said personal income grew by 0.9% in January after rising by 0.4% in December, while personal spending dipped by 0.2% in January after climbing by 0.8% in December.