TSX Ends Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market, which very nearly slipped into negative territory around mid afternoon on Thursday after opening on a positive note and climbing up further in early trades, managed to find some support in the final hour of the session to finish modestly higher.

Stocks climbed higher in morning trades as tamer-than-expected U.S. consumer inflation data reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 67.61 points or 0.33% at 20,342.88 after scaling a low of 20,279.72 and a high of 20,444.64 intraday.

Communications, consumer staples and technology stocks moved higher. A few stocks from the financials sector too posted strong gains, while healthcare stocks closed weak.

In addition to reacting to U.S. inflation data, investors also digested a slew of earnings announcements from Canadian companies.

Quebecor Inc (QBR.B.TO) rallied 4.3% on strong results. The company reported adjusted EBITDA of $605.2 million for the second quarter of this financial year, up$113.8 million or 23.2%, compared to the year-ago quarter.

Cogeco Communications (CCA.TO) gained nearly 2%, while Rogers Communications (RCI.B.TO) and Telus Corp (T.TO) ended higher by 1.03% and 1.23%, respectively.

Primo Water Corp (PRMW.TO), up 9.3%, was the top gainer in the consumer staples sector. The company reported adjusted second-quarter net income and adjusted net income per diluted share of $39 million and $0.24, respectively, compared to $33 million and $0.21, respectively, in the year-ago quarter.

Empire Company (EMP.A.TO), Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.TO), Loblaw Co (L.TO) and Metro Inc (MRU.TO) gained 1 to 2.2%.

Among financials shares, Goeasy (GSY.TO) and Power Corporation of Canada (POW.TO) gained 2.1% and 1.9%, respectively.

Onex Corp (ONEX.TO) shares climbed 1.6% after the company reported net earnings of $132 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023, compared with net loss of $184 million in the year-ago quarter.

Among the stocks in the Healthcare index, Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) dropped 8.6%. Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) ended 2.5% down.

AutoCanada Inc (AC.TO) soared 16.6% after the company reported second-quarter net income of $45.2 million, compared to $39.1 million in the prior year.

Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO), Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO), Snc-Lavalin Group Inc (SNC.TO) and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) gained 2.4 to 4.6%.

Data from the Labor Department showed U.S. consumer price growth accelerated to 3.2% in July from 3% in June, while economists had expected the pace of price growth to accelerate to 3.3%.

The Labor Department also said its consumer price index rose by 0.2% on a monthly basis in July, matching the uptick seen in June as well as expectations.

Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices also rose by 0.2% for the second straight month in July, in line with estimates. Meanwhile, the annual rate of growth by core consumer prices slowed to 4.7% in July from 4.8% in June. The rate of growth was expected to be unchanged.