TSX Ends Higher Again; Technology Shares Rally

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended on a firm note on Wednesday, riding on strong gains in information technology and healthcare sections.

Stocks from consumer discretionary and financial sections too ended mostly higher. Mining stocks pared some early gains, while energy stocks turned subdued after crude oil prices declined sharply.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 73.80 points, or 0.45%, at 16,611.14, its highest close in six weeks. The index touched a high of 16,622.99.

Information technology stocks Blackberry (BB.TO), Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO) and Photon Control (PHO.TO) gained 5.5%, 3.5% and 3.2%, respectively. Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) gained 2.5%, while Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO), Kinaxis (KXS.TO) and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) moved up 1.2 to 1.4%.

Among healthcare shares, Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) and Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) gained 3.15% and 2.9%, respectively.

In the financial space, Laurentian Bank (LB.TO) gained 2.3%. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) gained 1.5% and 1.1%, respectively. Manulife Financial (MFC.TO) and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) also closed notably higher.

U.S. stocks ended higher with investors reacting positively to news that China is granting tariff exemptions for 16 types of American-made products as a sign of goodwill ahead of the next round of trade talks.

The Dow ended 0.9% up, the Nasdaq gained 1.1% and the S&P 500 advanced 0.7%.

Most of the markets across Europe closed notably higher. Asian markets too ended on a firm note.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down $1.65, or about 2.9%, at $55.75 a barrel, the lowest settlement since September 3.

Gold futures for December ended up $4.00, or about 0.3%, at $1,503.20 an ounce.

Silver futures for December ended down $0.016, at $18.170 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $2.6145 per pound, down $0.0135 from previous close.