TSX Ends On Firm Note; Technology Stocks Rally

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended on a firm note on Thursday, led by gains in technology, real estate, healthcare and energy stocks.

Several stocks from consumer discretionary, utilities, consumer staples and financials sectors also closed notably higher.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 148.26 points or 0.68% at 21,942.16. The Index, which opened at 21,798.38 touched a high of 21,956.71 in the session.

BlackBerry (BB.TO) soared 11% on stronger than expected quarterly results. BlackBerry reported an adjusted net loss of 3 cents per share for the quarter ended May 31, compared with analysts' average estimate of a loss of 4 cents. The company expects second-quarter revenue in the range of $136 million to $144 million, whose mid-point is below analysts' estimate of $142.4 million.

Tecsys Inc (TCS.TO) climbed 8.6% ahead of results. Cargojet (CJT.TO) gained 5.6%. Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), goeasy (GSY.TO), Dollarama Inc (DOL.TO) and Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) gained 2 to 3.3%.

WSP Global (WSP.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), Colliers International (CIGI.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), Intact Financial Corporation (IFC.TO), Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO), Waste Connections (WCN.TO), FirstService Corporation (FSV.TO) and TFI International (TFII.TO) gained 1 to 2%.

Tucows (TC.TO), Pollard Banknote (PBL.TO), International Petroleum Corporation (IPCO.TO), Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) and Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO) ended notably lower.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed that average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees in Canada increased by 3.7% year-on-year to $1,240 in April, slowing from a 4.2% growth in the previous month.