TSX Ends On Buoyant Note On Higher Oil Prices, Central Banks' Stimulus

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended on a firm note on Thursday, taking cues from European and U.S. markets where stocks rallied on a slew of relief packages from global central banks, and on a sharp rebound in crude oil prices.

After the Federal Reserve's fiscal stimulus and the European Central Bank's asset purchase scheme launch on Wednesday, the Bank of England cut its interest rate today and expanded its bond buying scheme and the targeted funding measure for small and medium businesses, extending further support to the UK economy amid the spread of the coronavirus, or Covid-19.

On Wednesday, Canada did its bit to curb the economic impact of the virus outbreak on its economy by announcing a government spend of about $82 billion.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 449.10 points, or 3.83%, at 12,170.52, nearly 125 points off the day's high of 12,294.41. In early trades, the index dropped to a low of 11,361.34.

On Wednesday, the index ended down 963.79 points, or 7.6%, at 11,721.42, after dropping to a low of 11,384.06 around mid afternoon.

Healthcare stocks were among the biggest gainers on Bay Street today. The Capped Healthcare Index shot up by 9.5%. The Consumer Discretionary Index spurted 8.29% as several key stocks in the section posted big gains.

Energy stocks rode on strong crude oil prices, and there were sharp gains for several stocks from information technology, financial, utilities, industrial and telecommunications sectors as well. Consumer staples stocks firmed up as well, while real estate stocks failed to find support.

In economic news, data from payroll processor ADP showed private businesses in Canada hired 7,200 workers in February of 2020 compared to 25,900 in January and far below market expectations of 18,100.

Meanwhile, new housing prices in Canada rose 0.4% over a month earlier in February 2020, following a 0.2% gain in January and above market expectations of a 0.1% increase.

U.S. stocks ended higher, recovering from early weakness. The Dow ended up 1%, the Nasdaq gained 2.3% and the S&P 500 edged up 0.5%.

Markets across Europe ended with strong gains, while those across the Asia-Pacific region closed mostly lower.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April climbed up $4.85, or 23.8%, at $25.22 a barrel, logging their biggest single-session gain in percentage terms.

Gold futures for April ended up $1.40, or nearly 0.1%, at $1,479.30 an ounce, after scaling a low of $1,460,10 and a high of $1,502.80 in the session.

Silver futures for May ended up $0.362 at $12.134 an ounce, while Copper futures for May ended stronger by $0.345 at $2.1855 per pound.