TSX Records New Closing High; Technology, Energy Stocks Move Up

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market posted new record intraday and closing highs on Friday as technology and energy stocks rallied on sustained buying support. Upbeat jobs data from the U.S., and a strong reading of Canada's Ivey Purchasing Managers Index helped underpin sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed to a new high of 24,179.28 and settled at 24,162.83, gaining 194.33 points or 0.81%. The index gained about 0.45% in the week.

The Information Technology Capped Index climbed 2.04%. Quarterhill (QTRH.TO) rallied more than 8%. Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) and Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) gained 5.6% and 4.75%, respectively.

Computer Modelling (CMG.TO), Dye & Durham (DND.TO), BlackBerry (BB.TO), Bitfarms (BITF.TO), Tecsys (TCS.TO), Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) and Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) gained 1.2 to 3%.

Energy stock Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO) ended 4.5% up. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO), Mattr Corp (MATR.TO) and Parex Resources (PXT.TO) gained 2 to 2.7%.

Cameco Corporation (CCO.TO), Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO), RB Global Inc (RBA.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO) and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) also ended notably higher.

SilverCrest Metals (SIL.TO) soared nearly 10%. Coeur Mining, Inc. (NYSE: CDE) and SilverCrest Metals Inc., entered Friday into a definitive agreement whereby a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coeur will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of SilverCrest pursuant to a court-approved plan of arrangement.

Morguard Corporation (MRC.TO), Calian Group (CGY.TO), Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO), West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), George Weston (WN.TO) and Loblaw Companies (L.TO) declined sharply.

The Ivey Purchasing Managers Index in Canada soared to 53.1 in September 2024, up from an over 3-1/2-year low of 48.2 in August and well above market estimates of 50.2. The latest reading showed a renewed expansion in Canadian economic activity at a solid pace, as the price index eased to its lowest level in six months (58.2 vs 63.4 in August).

Data from the U.S. Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 254,000 jobs in September after climbing by an upwardly revised 159,000 jobs in August.

Economists had expected employment to rise by 140,000 jobs compared to the addition of 142,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The report also showed the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1% in September from 4.2% in August. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged.