TSX Extends Winning Streak, Ends At New All-time High

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market scaled record highs on Thursday as several stocks from across various sectors surged higher amid hopes economic recovery will gain some momentum this year.

Expectations of additional fiscal stimulus in the U.S. rose after Democrats got control of the House, Senate and the White House following the lawmakers certifying Joe Biden's victory in the elections, and Democratic candidates winning Georgia's Senate runoff elections.

Information technology, industrial, healthcare, energy and consumer discretionary shares moved up sharply. A few stocks from utilities, materials and financial sections too posted notable gains.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which hit a high of 18,051.75, ended the session with a gain of 199.46 points or 1.12% at 18,027.57.

Among the stocks that moved higher on fairly strong volumes, Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO) gained nearly 7%. Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO), Aphria Inc. (APHA.TO), TC Energy Corporation (TRP.TO), Enbridge (ENB.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC.TO), Faifrax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) and Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO) gained 1.5 to 3%.

Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) and Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) also posted notable gains.

Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO), CargoJet (CJT.TO), Docebo Inc. (DCBO.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) were among the other impressive gainers in the session.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed Canada's trade deficit narrowed to C$ 3.34 billion in November of 2020 from a downwardly revised C$ 3.73 billion in the previous month. Exports increased 0.5% to C$ 46.76 billion, while imports were down by 0.3% at $ 50.10 billion.

Western University's IVEY School of Business' Purchasing Managers Index for December dropped to 46.7 from November's 52.7, and down from the 51.9 figure in December 2019.