After posting losses in the previous three sessions, the Canadian market closed on a firm note on Monday, as investors picked up stocks amid hopes the Bank of Canada will reduce interest rates on Wednesday.
The Canadian central bank, which is scheduled to announce its monetary policy on Wednesday, is widely expected to ccut its overnight interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.5%.
Healthcare, real estate, consumer discretionary, utilities and industrials shares were among the major gainers in the session. Several stocks from technology, financials and energy sectors also ended on a firm note.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended the session with a gain of 182.26 points or 0.8% at 22,872.65, about 20 points off the day\'s high of 22,892.33.
Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) soared nearly 17% on huge volumes. Bitfarms (BITF.TO), TC Energy Corporation (TRP.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) and Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC.TO) also posted impressive gains on large volumes.
Sleep Country Canada Holdings (ZZZ.TO) zoomed 27%. The U.S. dollar turned in a weak performance on Monday amid political uncertainty in the U.S. after President Joe Biden decided to drop out of the presidential race and endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate for the post.
Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO), goeasy (GSY.TO), Dollarama Inc (DOL.TO), Intact Financial Corporation (IFC.TO), Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO), Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO), WSP Global (WSP.TO), FirstService Corporation (FSV.TO) and Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) gained 1.5 to 2.5%.