TSX Ends Marginally Up, Gains 0.5% In Week

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended slightly up on Friday, supported by gains in healthcare, materials and utilities sectors. The mood in the market remained cautious with investors looking ahead to U.S. central bank's monetary policy meeting next week.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which dropped to 21,788.67 about an hour past noon, ended the day's session at 21,849.15, gaining 19.30 points or 0.09%. The index gained about 0.51% in the week.

Ero Copper (ERO.TO) and Russel Metals (RUS.TO) gained 4.5% and 4.4%, respectively. Molson Coors Canada Inc (TPX.B.TO), Cameco Corporation (CCO.TO), Stelco Holdings (STLC.TO), Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation (BIPC.TO) and Stella-Jones (SJ.TO) climbed 2.5 to 3.1%.

Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO) and Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.TO) gained 1.8% and 1.5%, respectively. Waste Connections (WCN.TO) and goeasy (GSY.TO) also posted strong gains.

Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (PBH.TO) ended down 2.3% after reporting a drop in fourth quarter earnings. The company reported adjusted earnings of $37.9 million, or $0.85 per share, for the fourth-quarter of 2023, compared to adjusted earnings of $52.9 million, or $1.19 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) ended lower by about 4.4%. Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) ended down 3%. Dayforce (DAY.TO), Morguard Corporation (MRC.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Kinaxis (KXS.TO) and BRP Inc (DOO.TO) closed down by 1.4 to 2.5%.

On the economic front, data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed housing starts in Canada jumped by 14% over a month earlier to 253,468 units in February.

Data from Statistics Canada said wholesale sales in Canada unexpectedly edged up 0.1% month-over-month to C$82.4 billion in January, following a downwardly revised 0.3% decrease in December 2023.