Canadian market close higher on Health Care and Financials

Canada’s main stock market rose for a second straight day on Thursday, as gains in Health Care and Financial sector led a day wherein nearly all of the top 10 sectors rose.
(Photo by Halava (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s benchmark Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite climbed 85.15 points, or 0.55 percent to end the day at 15,433.61 points. Nine of the 10 sub-groups finished the day ahead.

Health Care saw the largest percentage growth on the day, gaining 1.33 percent after United States’ House of Representatives delayed the voting of President Donald Trump’s health care bill due to lack of votes. As a result, Quebec-based pharmaceutical firms Knight Therapeutics Inc. and Valeant International Inc. saw shares rise 2.62 percent and 1.96 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, medical marijuana distributor Canopy Growth Corporation’s shares bounced back with a 4.53 percent surge on the day to close at 10.16 Canadian dollars (USD7.61).

The TSX Financial group also posted strong gains, rising 1.00 percent. Toronto-based Manulife Financial, Canada’ s largest insurance firm, led the group with a 2.02 percent jump to 23.23 Canadian dollars (USD17.40) and was the number one traded stock on the day with a volume of nearly eight million.

Meanwhile, Royal Bank of Canada, the largest bank in the country saw shares advance 1.50 percent to 96.64 Canadian dollars (USD72.38). Toronto-Dominion Bank and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce also finished with gains of 1.04 percent and 1.65 percent, each.

The remaining groups to close higher on the day were: Industrials (1.02 percent), Consumer Staples (0.63 percent), Information Technology (0.57 percent), Consumer Discretionary (0.51 percent), Energy (0.44 percent), Telecommunications (0.41 percent), and Utilities (0.36 percent).

The Industrials group was fueled by the country’s two largest railway companies. Montreal-based Canadian National Railway Company shares rose 1.16 percent to 96.73 Canadian dollars (USD72.45), while Calgary-based Canadian Pacific Railway Limited saw shares tick up 0.84 percent to 194.36 Canadian dollars (USD145.58).

Montreal-based Bombardier Inc. saw class B shares slip 0.50 percent to 2.01 Canadian dollars (USD1.51).

The TSX Energy group finished ahead despite crude oil continuing its recent stumble. The price of Brent in London gave back 0.37 percent to finish the day at USD50.54 a barrel. Over the last thirteen days, the benchmark crude oil has traded lower in twelve of the days for a combined loss of 9.57 percent.

Despite the decline, Calgary-based Encana Corporation advanced 1.14 percent to close at 14.22 Canadian dollars (USD10.65). Birchcliff Energy Ltd. and NuVista Energy Ltd. posted stronger gains, as shares soared 8.11 percent and 5.92 percent, respectively.

The lone group to lose ground on the day was Materials, fading 0.34 percent after the spot price of gold retreated for the first time in six days. An ounce of bullion lost USD3.60 to close at 1,244.60.

As a result, gold miner Detour Gold Corporation was hit the hardest with a 5.85 percent dip to 14.97 Canadian dollars (USD11.21). B2Gold Corp. and Yamana Gold Inc. were also affected, dropping 2.70 percent and 2.63 percent, respectively.

The Canadian dollar slipped 0.14 cents to end the session at USD0.7490.