TSX Ends Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - After opening modestly higher and moving up further Monday morning, the Canadian market kept paring gains past noon as the mood turned cautious following some slightly hawkish comments from a couple of Fed officials.

Optimism surrounding China's reopening, and expectations that the Federal Reserve will slow down the pace of interest rate hikes contributed to the positive spell early on in the session.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 42.56 points or 0.21% at 19,857.07, well off the day's high of 19,987.54.

Technology stocks, which rallied sharply before noon, gave up a substantial portion of their gains as the day progressed. A few stocks from real estate, energy and utilities sections posted notable gains.

Healthcare stocks declined sharply. Consumer discretionary and materials also closed weak.

Data released by Statistics Canada this morning showed the total value of building permits in Canada soared by 14.1% from the previous month to C$ 11.03 billion in November of 2022, rebounding from the upwardly revised 5.3% decline in the corresponding period of the previous month.

Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO) soared more than 17% on huge volumes. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp (AQN.TO) and TC Energy (TRP.TO) also posted notable gains on strong volumes.

Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO) climbed more than 4%. Premium Brands Holdings (PBH.TO), Methanex Corporation (MX.TO), WSP Global (WSP.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) and FirstService Corporation (FSV.TO) gained 2 to 3.1%.

Magna International (MG.TO), Cogeco Inc. (CGO.TO), Waste Connections (WCN.TO) Intack Financial Corporation (IFC.TO) closed weak.