TSX Ends On Positive Note For 2nd Straight Day

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended modestly higher on Friday, extending gains to a second straight session, thanks to strong gains in energy and materials shares following a surge in commodity prices.

Data showing a drop in Canadian unemployment rate in the month of March aided sentiment. However, lingering concerns about inflation and imminent monetary tightening by global central banks weighed and limited market's upside.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 39.46 points or 0.18% at 21,874.35, after scaling a low of 21,824.32 and a high of 21,953.04 intraday.

Data released by Statistics Canada showed the Canadian economy added 72,500 jobs in March of 2022, following an addition of 336,600 jobs in February. The addition in March was slightly less than forecasts.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in Canada dropped to 5.3% in March, from 5.5% in February. It was the lowest rate on record since comparable data became available in 1976.

Among energy stocks, Advantage Oil & Gas surged up 6.75%. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Nuvista Energy (NVA.TO) and Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO) gained 4 to 5%.

MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) and Arc Resources (ARX.TO) were among the other major gainers in the energy section.

In the materials sector, Fortuna Silver Mines (FVI.TO), Ero Copper (ERO.TO), Endeavour Silver Corp (EDR.TO), Interfor Corp (IFP.TO), Kinross Corp (K.TO) and Ssr Mining (SSRM.TO) gained 4 to 5.2%. Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), Oceanagold (OGC.TO), K92 Mining (KNT.TO) and MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO) also moved up sharply.

Technology stocks Dye & Durham (DND.TO), Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), Tecsys Inc (TCS.TO) and Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO) ended lower by 4 to 7%.

Mty Food Group Inc. (MTY.TO) shares gained 8.4%. The company reported a net income of $16.6 million, or $0.68 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2022, up from a net income of $13.4 million, or $0.54 per diluted share, in the first quarter of the previous year.