TSX Ends Higher For 2nd Straight Day

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended modestly higher on Wednesday, shrugging off early weakness and a brief setback it suffered around mid afternoon, lifted by gains in healthcare and energy sections.

The mood was cautious despite more positive news on the coronavirus vaccine front, and fairly decent economic data. Higher crude oil prices supported the market.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which dropped to 17,220.89 in early trades, rose to 17,358.29 by noon, and despite a setback of sorts around mid afternoon, ended the day with a gain of 61.28 points or 0.35% at 17,358.21.

On Tuesday, the index posted a gain of 106.68 points or 0.62%.

Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) soared more than 11% on strong volumes. Hexo Corp (HEXO.TO) climbed 9.4% and Aphria Inc. (APHA.TO) ended 7.8% up.

Among the other most actively traded stocks in the session, BlackBerry (BB.TO) spurted 5.5%, extending gains from previous session. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) gained 4.2%, MEG Energy (MEG.TO) advanced nearly 4%, Air Canada (AC.TO), Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) and Enbridge Inc. (ENB.TO) moved up 2.5 to 3.1%.

Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) and Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC.TO) gained 1 to 1.75%.

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) moved up 1.75%. Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO) and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) also ended notably higher.

Lundin Mining Corporation (LUN.TO) slid 4% and Kinross Gold Corporation (K.TO) ended 1.25% down.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) ended lower by about 0.6%. The bank announced that it earned nearly $3.25 billion or $2.23 per diluted share for the quarter ended Oct. 31, up from nearly $3.21 billion or $2.18 per diluted share a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, RBC says it earned $2.27 per diluted share for its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of $2.22 per diluted share a year ago.

National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) shares slid 1.1%. The bank reported that its fourth-quarter net income attributable to the bank's shareholders and holders of other equity instruments dropped to C$490 million or C$1.36 per share from C$590 million or C$1.67 per share last year.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed labour productivity in the country dropped 10.3% in the third quarter of 2020 following a record 10.5% increase in the previous period.

In vaccine news, the U.K. has approved the vaccine candidate developed by Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX), with the vaccine expected to be rolled out next week.