TSX Rises 0.8%, Ends At 1-month High

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended on a strong note on Friday, led by gains in healthcare, technology and materials shares.

Several stocks from consumer discretionary, industrials, real estate, financials and communications sectors also posted impressive gains.

The mood in the market remained quite positive right through the day's session amid hopes the central banks will slow the pace of interest rate hikes. Optimism about Chinese economy helped as well.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 161.77 points or 0.8% at 20,503.21, a new one-month closing high.

The Health Care Capped Index climbed nearly 2.5%. Bellus Health Inc (BLU.TO) and Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) gained about 4.4% and 4%, respectively. Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) climbed 2.3%, while Cronos Group (CRON.TO) and Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) both gained about 1.8%.

The Information Technology Capped Index gained 2.4%. Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO) and Magnet Forensics (MAGT.TO) soared 14.4% and nearly 14%, respectively. Tecsys Inc (TCS.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) and Dye & Durham (DND.TO) gained 5.4 to 6%.

Materials shares Interfor Corp (IFP.TO), Oceanagold (OGC.TO), Algoma Steel Group (ASTL.TO), Wesdome Gold Mines (WDO.TO), Canfor Corp (CFP.TO), Lithium Americas Corp (LAC.TO) and West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO) gained 3 to 6%.

Among gainers from other sectors, Mty Food Group (MTY.TO), Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO), Ballard Power Systems (BLDP.TO), Westshore Terminals (WTE.TO), Goeasy (GSY.TO), Onex Corp (ONEX.TO), CI Financial Corp (CIX.TO), IGM Financial (IGM.TO) and Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) advanced 2 to 5%.

In economic news, retail sales in Canada likely rose 0.5% month-over-month in December of 2022, preliminary estimates showed. In November, retail sales dropped 0.1% from a month earlier, after seeing an increase of 1.3% (revised) in October.

Retail sales in Canada increased 5.2% in November of 2022, over the same month in the previous year, the data frm Statistics Canada showed.