TSX Ends Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - After opening on a strong note and staying firm till about an hour past noon, the Canadian market very nearly fell into the red, but recovered to end the session modestly higher on Tuesday.

Data showing a smaller than expected increase in U.S. producer prices helped raise hopes the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of interest rate hikes as soon as next month.

Technology and energy stocks were the prominent gainers. Communications stocks drifted lower, while stocks from the rest of the sectors turned in a mixed performance.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 72.97 points or 0.37% at 19,994.78. The index opened at 20,117.36.

The Information Technology Capped Index surged 2.27%. Coveo Solutions Inc (CVO.TO) climbed nearly 7% and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) gained 4.15%, while Evertz Technologies (ET.TO) and Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) both gained about 3.85%.

Descartes Systems Inc (DSG.TO), BlackBerry (BB.TO), CGI Group Inc (GIB.A.TO) and Magnet Forensics (MAGT.TO) gained 2 to 2.5%.

The Energy Capped Index climbed 1.71%. Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO) and Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) ended higher by 2.5 to 4.3%.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed car registrations in Canada inreased to 138,365 units in September from 136,972 units in August.

Another data from the same bureau showed total manufacturing sales in Canada were unchanged in September from the previous month with a preliminary reading of a 0.5 percent drop and on the heels of a revised 1.9 percent decline in August.

Meanwhile, wholesale sales in Canada rose by 0.1% from a month earlier to C$81.8 billion in September of 2022.