The Canadian market snapped a 4-day losing streak and ended on a buoyant note on Thursday with stocks from across several sectors moving up north on sustained buying support. Some encouraging earnings announcements, upbeat U.S. jobless claims data, and bargain hunting contributed to markets rise.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index opened modestly higher and stayed firm right through the days session to eventually close with a strong gain of 344.66 points or 1.58% at 22,225.61, after hitting a high of 22,288.79.
Healthcare, technology, energy, consumer discretionary, materials and financials shares posted impressive gains. Several stocks from other sectors moved up as well. Mirroring all-round buying, all the sectoral indices ended in green with solid gains.
Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO) climbed 7.8% on strong results. The company reported net income of C$198.8 million or C$3.56 per share for the second quarter, significantly higher than C$99.4 million or C$1.76 per share in the same quarter a year ago, primarily due to exceptional items.
Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO) zoomed 14.3%. Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) surged 7.2%. Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO) gained 5.7% on strong results. TerraVest Industries (TVK.TO), goeasy (GSY.TO) and Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) ended higher by 4 to 5%.
Quebecor Inc. (QBR.B.TO) climbed more than 3.5% after reporting adjusted net income of $205.1 million for the second quarter, up $22.8 million or 12.5% from a year ago.
ATS Corporation (ATS.TO) gained 2.5% after the company reported a net income of $35.3 million for the first quarter of its current financial year, compared to $47.7 million a year ago.
Cargojet (CJT.TO), Colliers International (CIGI.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO) and Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) also posted impressive gains.