TSX Snaps 6-day Losing Streak, Ends On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market snapped a six-session losing streak on Friday thanks to strong gains in information technology and some top financial stocks.

Shares from real estate, healthcare, utilities, consumer discretionary and telecom sectors too found some support after recent sharp losses. A few stocks from energy sector moved up as well.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up by 123.66 points or 0.61% at 20,339.02. The index scaled a low of 20,209.45 and a high of 20,347.55 intraday.

Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO), up 6.7%, was the top gainer in the Information Technology Index. Alithya Group (ALYA.TO), Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO) and Lightspeed Pos (LSPD.TO) gained 3.6 to 4%. Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Tecsys Inc (TCS.TO), Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) and Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) also moved up sharply.

Colliers International (CIGI.TO), CDN Apartment (CAR.UN.TO), Boardwalk Real Estate (BEI.UN.TO), H&R Real Estate (HR.UN.TO) and Dream Office (D.UN.TO) were the major gainers in the real estate index.

Among bank stocks, National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO) and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) gained 0.8 to 1.5%.

Data from Statistics Canada showed retail sales climbed 4.2% in June compared to a month earlier. However, the data showed retail sales likely fell 1.7% in July. Retail Sales in Canada increased 6.2% in June of 2021 over the same month in the previous year.

Retail Sales Excluding Autos in Canada increased 4.7% month-on-month in June, the first increase in three months.

Prices of new homes in Canada increased by 0.4% from the previous month in July, the slowest growth since December 2020. On an annual basis, new house prices jumped 11.9% in July, one of the steepest increases on record.