The Canadian market rose to a record high on Thursday, with stocks from the materials sector hogging the limelight as metal prices climbed higher. Utilities, industrials, consumer staples and energy sectors were among the other notable gainers.
Easing concerns about U.S. inflation and rising prospects of a few interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve contributed to the markets rise.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 263.97 points or 1.14% at 23,475.14, a new closing high. The index touched a new high of 23,483.11.
The Materials Capped Index climbed 4.14%. B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO) soared nearly 13%. First Majestic Silver Corp (AG.TO) zoomed about 12% and Novagold (ND.TO) climbed 10.35%.
Aya Gold & Silver (AYA.TO), Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.TO), Ssr Mining (SSRM.TO), Fortuna Silver Mines (FVI.TO), Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO), MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), New Gold (NGD.TO), Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO) and Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO) gained 8 to 10%.
Utilities stocks Boralex Inc (BLX.TO), Brookfield Infra Partners (BIP.UN.TO), Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP.UN.TO), Emera Incorporated (EMA.TO), Northland Power (NPI.TO) and Innergex Renewable Energy (INE.TO) surged 2.7 to 4.2%.
Industrials stocks Finning International (FTT.TO), Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO), Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) and Cargojet (CJT.TO) gained 2.3 to 4%. Nfi Group (NFI.TO), Air Canada (AC.TO), Mda Ltd (MDA.TO), Snc Lavalin Group (ATRL.TO), Mullen Group (MTL.TO) and Cae Inc (CAE.TO) also ended notably higher.
Among consumer staples stocks, Empire Company (EMP.A.TO) climbed 5.6%. The company reported net earnings of $207.8 million ($0.86 per share) for the first quarter ended August 3, 2024, compared to net earnings of $261.0 million ($1.03 per share) last year. For the quarter, the Company recorded adjusted net earnings of $218.7 million ($0.90 per share) compared to $196.2 million ($0.78 per share) last year.
Premium Brands Holdings Corp (PBH.TO), Jamieson Wellness (JWEL.TO), Loblaw (L.TO), Primo Water (PRMW.TO) and George Weston (WN.TO) gained 1.5 to 3%.
Energy stocks Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Advantage Oil & Gas (AAV.TO), Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO), Kelt Exploration (KELT.TO), Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO) and Baytex Energy (BTE.TO) gained 2 to 3%.
The U.S. Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand crept up by 0.2% in August, while revised data showed prices were unchanged in July.
Economists had expected producer prices to inch up by 0.1%, matching the uptick originally reported for the previous month.
In Canadian economic news, data from Statistics Canada showed the total value of building permits surged by 22.1% month-over-month to $12.39 billion in July, following an upwardly revised 13% decline in the previous month.