TSX Ends At 3-week High

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended on a firm note on Tuesday, lifted by strong gains in materials, technology, industrials and financials stocks.

Several stocks from healthcare, consumer discretionary and consumer staples too closed with impressive gains. Energy stocks tumbled as oil prices fell sharply for a second straight session.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended stronger by 141.68 points or 0.67% at 21,377.18, the highest close since January 17.

The Capped Materials Index climbed 1.96%. Wesdome Gold Mines (WDO.TO) gained 6.3%. Lithium Americas Corp (LAC.TO), Osisko Mining (OSK.TO), Capstone Mining Corp (CS.TO), Canfor Corp (CFP.TO), Interfor Corp (IFP.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Osisko Gold Royalties (OR.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO) and First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) gained 3 to 5.1%.

Sprott Inc (SII.TO), up 7.6%, was the top gainer in the financials section. Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) gained nearly 2.5%. Power Corporation of Canada (POW.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), Manulife Financial (MFC.TO), Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) gained 1 to 1.5%.

Among technology stocks, Absolute Software (ABST.TO), Descartes Systems (DSG.TO), Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO), Sierra Wireless (SW.TO), Opex Text Corporation (OTEX.TO), Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) and Telus International (TIXT.TO) closed higher by 2 to 3.4%.

The Capped Industrials Index climbed 1.5%. Tfi International (TFII.TO) soared more than 8%. Air Canada (AC.TO) and Mullen Group (MTL.TO) gained 4.8% and 4.35%, respectively. Cae Inc (CAE.TO), Nfi Group (NFI.TO), Cargojet (CJT.TO) and Aecon Group (ARE.TO) ended stronger by 2.5 to 3.5%.

In the energy secto, Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) tumbled nearly 6.5%. Cenovus Energy reported a fourth-quarter net loss of C$408 million or C$0.27 per basic share, wider than a net loss of C$153 million or C$0.12 per basic share in the prior-year quarter. The Board also declared a dividend of $0.035 per share, payable on March 31, 2022 to common shareholders of record as of March 15, 2022.

Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) were among the major losers in the energy section.

Thomson Reuters Corporation (TRI.TO) ended down by about 1.55%. The company reported adjusted EPS of $0.43 for the quarter ended December 2021 compared to adjusted EPS of $0.54 in the year-ago quarter. The company has trimmed its revenue and organic revenue growth guidance for the full-year of 2022, and now projects total evenue growth and organic revenue growth of 4.0 to 5.0%, with "Big 3" total revenue growth and organic revenue growth of 5.5 to 6.5%.

Data released by Statistics Canada showed Canada posted a trade deficit of C$ 0.14 billion in December of 2021, the first trade gap since May, from a downwardly revised surplus of C$ 2.47 billion in November.

Exports from Canada fell by 0.9% over the prior month to C$ 57.6 billion in December of 2021 after hitting a downwardly revised record high of C$ 58.1 billion in November, while imports to Canada rose by 3.7% over a month to a fresh record high of C$ 57.7 billion in December of 2021.