TSX Ends Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market closed higher on Wednesday, led by strong gains healthcare and materials shares. A few top stocks from the energy section too posted impressive gains.

Investors reacted to a slew of earnings updates, data on consumer price inflation for the month of June, and the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up by 57.05 points or 0.28% at 20,230.40, after scaling a low of 20,153.69 and a high of 20,250.05 intraday.

Healthcare stocks rebounded strongly after recent sharp losses. The Capped Healthcare Index surged up almost 10%. Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) soared more than 25% after turnaround results. The company reported fourth-quarter net income of $33.6 million, compared to net loss of $84.3 million in the prior year quarter.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (AUP.TO) zoomed 23.3% and Organigram Holdings (OGI.TO) climbed 10.7%. Cronos Group (CRON.TO), Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) and Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) gained 7.3%, 6.7% and 6.5%, respectively. Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) and Trillium Therapeutics (TRIL.TO) also rallied sharply.

Among materials shares, Lithium Americas Corp (LAC.TO), Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) and Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.TO) gained 3 to 4.5%.

Energy shares Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) and Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) gained 1.4 to 1.7%.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP.TO) reported record second quarter revenues of $2.05 billion Wednesday, even as it paid a termination fee related to its attempt to buy a U.S. rail company. The stock ended lower by about 0.6%.

CP Rail's adjusted earnings per share were $1.03, a 27% increase from $0.81 last year and a second quarter record.

Loblaw Companies Ltd. (L.TO) reported adjusted second-quarter profit of $464 million or $1.35 per diluted share, up from $260 million or 72 cents per share in the second quarter of 2020. The stock gained about 1%.

Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) reported Earnings Per Share of $0.84 for the latest quarter, up 12.75% from a year ago. The stock climbed nearly 0.5%.

Alamos Gold Inc (AGI.TO) shares gained 1% after the company said it earned $0.16 per share in the second quarter of this financial year, up 2.76% compared to a year earlier.

Data released by Statistics Canada this morning showed inflation rate in Canada decreased to 3.1% in June, compared to 3.6% in the same month last year. Inflation rate increased 0.3% in June over the previous month.

Core consumer prices in Canada increased 2.8% in June 2021 over the same month in the previous year, the data showed.

The Federal Open Market Committee, which concluded its two-day monetary policy meeting Wednesday afternoon, left the target range for its federal funds rate unchanged at 0 to 0.25% as expected, and said it will continue with its $120 billion-a-month bond-buying program.

The bank, which said the economy is strengthening despite concerns over the spread of the coronavirus, added that risks to the economic outlook remain.

The Fed said the open market committee will continue to assess progress in coming meetings.