TSX Ends On Strong Note

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended on a strong note on Friday thanks to some brisk buying at several counters in late afternoon trades. Optimism about interest rate cuts by the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve helped underpin sentiment.

Consumer discretionary, industrials, energy, healthcare and communications shares were among the prominent gainers.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a strong gain of 197.41 points or 0.89% at 22,269.12, near the day's high. The index shed 0.23% in the week.

Dollarama Inc (DOL.TO) rallied 4.2%. Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO) gained 3.35%. Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO), Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO), Stantec (STN.TO) and Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO) climbed 2 to 2.4%.

FirstService Corp (FSV.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), Loblaw Companies (L.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), goeasy (GSY.TO), WSP Global (WSP.TO), Waste Connections (WCN.TO) and Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO) all ended higher by 1 to 2%.

Laurentian Bank (LB.TO) lost 6.5% after reporting a net loss of C$117.5 million and a loss per share of C$2.71 for the second quarter of 2024, compared with net income of C$49.3 million and profit per share of C$1.11, prior year.

Canadian Western Bank (WCP.TO) shares ended down 4.2%. The bank reported second-quarter net income of $76 million and adjusted earnings per common share of $0.81, both up 9% from the prior year.

BRP Inc (DOO.TO) and Cogeco Inc (CGO.TO) 6% and 5.6%, respectively. BRP Inc reported first-quarter net loss of C$7.4 million or C$0.10 per share, compared to profit of C$154.5 million or C$1.92 per share a year ago. The company updated its full-year 2025 normalized earnings guidance in a range of C$370 to C$450 million and earnings per share in a range of C$6.00 to C$7.00.

Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) and EQB Inc (EQB.NO) ended notably lower.

Data from Statistics Canada showed the nation's economy grew at its fastest pace in a year in the early months of 2024, at a rate of 1.7%, but still missed expectations.