TSX Moves On To New High; Stelco Holdings Stock Skyrockets

(RTTNews) - After opening on a weak note, the Canadian market moved on to a new all-time high Monday morning thanks to gains in energy, technology, materials and industrials sectors.

Investors digested the attack on U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, and awaited economic data, earnings updates and comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell for further direction.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which dropped to 22,633.24 in early trades, rose 22,798.54 subsequently, and is up 89.89 points or 0.4% at 22,763.41 about half an hour before noon.

Stelco Holdings Inc (STLC.TO) shares are soaring nearly 75% after Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CLF), an American steel manufacturer, said it has agreed to acquire Canadian steel company Stelco Holdings Inc. for C$70 per share, to be paid in cash and stock. The transaction implies a total enterprise value of nearly $2.5 billion or C$3.4 billion for Stelco.

Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO) is gaining 12.5% and Filo Corp (FIL.TO) is climbing 8.4%. Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), Prcision Drilling Corp (PD.TO) and TFI International (TFII.TO) are up 3.5 to 4.2%.

Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO), Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO) and WSP Global (WSP.TO) are gaining 1 to 2%.

Among the losers, Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) is down 7%. Ero Copper (ERO.TO), Calian Group (CGY.TO), Boralex (BLX.TO), Capital Power Corporation (CPX.TO) and Fortis Inc (FTS.TO) are down 1 to 2.5%.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada said manufacturing sales increased 0.4% month-over-month in May, compared to the preliminary estimate of a 0.3% gain, and easing from an upwardly revised 1.4% rise in the previous month.

Wholesale sales in Canada fell by 0.8% in May, less than preliminary estimates of a 0.9% decline. Wholesale sales had increased by 2.4% in April.

A separate data from Statistics Canada showed car registrations in the country increased to 184,703 units in May, the highest since August 2019, from 175,066 units in April.