TSX Ends Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended on a firm note on Monday, lifted by gains in healthcare, industrials, energy and materials sections.

Several stocks from utilities and consumer staples sections too posted strong gains, while technology stocks were weak.

Positive Canadian manufacturing activity data and higher crude oil prices lifted sentiment. Encouraging economic data from the U.S., eurozone and China contributed as well to market's uptick. Worries about coronavirus infections and fresh lockdown measures in several countries across Europe limited market's gains.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which opened with a positive gap of over 100 points, briefly slipped into negative territory around mid afternoon before recovering to close moderately higher.

The index ended the day with a gain of 116.23 points or 0.75% at 15,696.87 after falling to a low of 15,569.43 from a high of 15,724.93 it touched around noon.

The Capped Healthcare Index spurted more than 6%. Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) soared more than 16%, Cronos Group (CRON.TO) zoomed 12.15%, Aphria Inc (APHA.TO) climbed 11% and Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) ended 10.8% up. Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) and Chartwell Retirement Residences (CSH.UN.TO) moved up 4.4% and 2.4%, respectively.

The Industrials index moved up by about 2.25%. Brookfield Business Partners (BBU.UN.TO), Westshore Terminals (WTE.TO), Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO), Ritchie Bros Auctioneers (RBA.TO), New Flyer Industries (NFI.TO), Transcontinental (TCL.A.TO), Ballard Power Systems (BLDP.TO) and Tfi International (TFII.TO) moved up 4 to 4.8%.

Energy stocks Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Husky Energy (HSE.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO) and PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO) gained 3 to 5.4%.

Among materials shares, West Fraser Timber (WFT.TO), Lundin Gold (LUG.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO) and Silvercorp Metals (SVM.TO) climbed 4 to 6%.

Utilities shares Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP.UN.TO) and Transalta Corp (TA.TO), and financial stocks Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), CDN Western Bankk (CWB.TO), National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) and Laurentian Bank (LB.TO) posted strong gains.

Technology stocks Lightspeed Pos (LSPD.TO), CGI Group (GIB.A.TO), Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO), Docebo (DCBO.TO), Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO), Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO) and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) lost 1.3 to 3%.

On the economic front, the IHS Markit Canada Manufacturing PMI reading came in at 55.5 for the month of October 2020, easing from 56.0 a month earlier.

Still, the latest reading pointed to the fourth consecutive expansion in factory activity. Output rose at the fastest pace since August 2018 while new orders increased at a slightly slower rate than September's 27-month high, the survey noted.