TSX Rises 1.5% As Stocks Rebound On Bargain Hunting

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended on a buoyant note on Wednesday, with stocks rebounding from previous session's losses, thanks to hectic bargain hunting. Positive lead from U.S. and European markets helped as well.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 304.43 points or 1.48% at 20,889.40.

Technology, industrials and consumer staples shares rose sharply. Several stocks from real estate, financials, consumer discretionary, utilities and healthcare sectors also posted strong gains. Materials stocks closed mixed, while energy stocks failed to find support as oil prices dropped.

The Information Technology Capped Index climbed more than 3%. Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO) soared 19.4%, and Bitfarms Ltd (BITF.TO) zoomed 15.5%. Sylogist (SYZ.TO) surged 5.8%, while Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), Computer Modelling (CMG.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Dye & Durham (DND.TO) and Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO) gained 3 to 4.2%.

In the industrials sector, Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO) rallied 6.2%. Toromont Industries (TIH.TO) gained 5.4%, while Waste Connections (WCN.TO), Russel Metals (RUS.TO), Ballard Power Systems (BLDP.TO), Cargojet (CJT.TO), WSP Global (WSP.TO) and Air Canada (AC.TO) surged 3.2 to 4.7%.

Consumer staples stock Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.TO) advanced more than 4.5%. Metro Inc (MRU.TO), George Weston (WN.TO) and Loblaw (L.TO) gained 2 to 2.3%.

Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust (CRR.UN.TO), the top gainer in the real estate sector, climbed 4.7%. Killam Apartment (KMP.UN.TO), Riocan Real Estate (REI.UN.TO) and Choice Properties (CHP.UN.TO) gained 3 to 3.3%.

Among financials shares, goeasy (GSY.TO) climbed 8%. Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO), Onex Corp (ONEX.TO), EQB Inc (EQB.TO), Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) and Manulife Financial (MFC.TO) gained 1.8 to 2.75%.

CAE Inc (CAE.TO) tanked nearly 10% after the company reported a drop in third-quarter operating income. The company reported operating income of $121.6 million for the third quarter, down from $142.1 million in the year ago quarter.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed car registrations in Canada dropped to 128,193 units in December from 143,723 units in November.