TSX Ends Higher For 3rd Straight Session

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended higher on Wednesday, extending gains to a third successive session, riding on hopes of global central banks will consider cutting interest rates to boost growth.

Shares from consumer staples, consumer discretionary, real estate, healthcare, industrial and information technology sections posted gains. There were solid gains for a few stocks from financial, energy and utilities sections as well. Materials shares turned in a mixed performance.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 104.91 points, or 0.64%, at 16,576.20. The index, which gained 0.54% on Tuesday, had moved up 0.46% a session earlier.

In consumer staples section, Empire Company (EMP.A.TO) rose 3.6% and Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.B.TO) ended nearly 3% up, while Premium Brands Holdings Corp. (PBH.TO) gained 2.3%.

Consumer discretionary stocks Dollarama Inc. (DOL.TO), Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO), Martinrea International (MRE.TO), Aritzia Inc. (ATZ.TO) and Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO) gained 1 to 2.4%.

In the healthcare space, Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) and Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) both gained nearly 2%.

Among information technology stocks, Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) gained 2.3%, while Constellation Software (CSU.TO) and Exfo Inc. (EXF.TO) both advanced nearly 2%.

From the industrial space, Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) gained 2.8% and SNC-Lavalin (SNC.TO) moved up 1.7%, Chorus Aviation (CHR.TO), Transcontinental (TCL.A.TO) and Brookefield Business Partners (BBU.UN.TO) gained about 1.5% each. Air Canada (AC.TO) and Cargojet (CJT.TO) ended higher by about 1.1%.

Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) also ended more than 1% up. The company said it is on track to move record quantities of western Canadian grain after a strong June. The company said it transported more than 2.3 million tonnes of grain last month, up nearly 16% from the 1.99 million tonnes moved last year and above the three-year average of 1.8 million tonnes.

Among energy stocks, Husky Energy (HSE.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) ended with solid gains, while Encana Corp. (ECA.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO) and Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TOU.TO) closed weak.

Among materials shares, Iamgold Corp. (IMG.TO), Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO) and Kinross Gold (K.TO) ended on a firm note.

In the banking space, Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) ended higher.

Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO), Kirkland Lake Gold (KL.TO), Franco-Nevada Corp. (FNV.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) and First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) lost 1.4 to 2.7%.

In economic news, Canada recorded a trade surplus of C$0.76 billion in May 2019 as against an upwardly revised C$1.08 billion in the previous month and compared with market expectations of a C$1.5 billion gap.

Exports increased to C$53.11 billion in May from C$50.75 billion in April of 2019, while imports increased to C$52.34 billion in May from C$51.84 billion in April of 2019.

U.S. stocks moved higher after disappointing economic data generated optimism about a near-term interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

The major averages posted their record closing highs. The Dow jumped 0.7%, the Nasdaq advanced 0.8% and the S&P 500 climbed 0.8%.

European markets ended higher, while markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed mostly lower.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended up $1.09, or 1.9%, at $57.34 a barrel.

Gold futures for August ended up $12.90, or 0.9%, at $1,420.90 an ounce, after rising to a high of $1,441.00 earlier in the session.

Silver futures for September ended up $0.098, at $15.336 an ounce, while Copper futures for September settled with a gain of $0.0190, at $2.6830 per pound.