TSX Ends Higher, Extends Gains To 7th Straight Session

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market extended its winning streak to a seventh session, riding on gains in healthcare and information technology sections on Friday.

The mood remained somewhat cautious with investors tracking news about coronavirus cases and developments on the vaccine front.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 45.22 points or 0.26% at 17,396.56. The index scaled a low of 17,316.81 and a high of 17,410.99 in the session.

The Index gained about 2.2% in the week.

The Capped Healthcare Index climbed 4.89%. Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) soared nearly 18%. Aphria Inc. (APHA.TO) gained 7.8% and Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (AUP.TO) ended nearly 4.5% up.

The Information Technology Index surged up 1.04%. Lightspeed Pos (LSPD.TO), Blackberry (BB.TO) and Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) gained 4.6%, 3.4% and 2.1%, respectively. Sierra Wireless (SW.TO), Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO) and CGI Group (GIB.A.TO) gained 1.3 to 1.5%.

Among other notable gainers, Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) spurted 15.1%. Hexo Corp (HEXO.TO) rallied 8.5%. Air Canada (AC.TO) gained 4.3%, while Enbridge Inc. (ENB.TO) and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) moved up 1.1% and 1%, respectively.

Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Newcrest Mining (NCM.TO) and Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) were among the prominent losers.

On the coronavirus vaccine front, after recent euphoria over potential coronavirus vaccines from a few top drugmakers, questions are being raised about the efficacy of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca Pharma and Oxford University. This has resulted in some uncertainty about chances of the coronavirus from AstraZeneca getting speedy U.S. and EU regulatory approval.

AstraZeneca Pascal Soriot told Bloomberg the British pharmaceutical giant is likely to run a new global trial of the vaccine candidate.