TSX Hits Fresh Record High, Ends On Strong Note

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended on a strong note on Wednesday, led by gains in healthcare and energy shares.

Several stocks from consumer discretionary, industrials, financial and materials sectors too posted impressive gains.

Strong results from Bank of Montreal and continued optimism about economic recovery helped keep investor sentiment positive.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 181.35 points or 0.93% at 19,745.57, slightly off a new all-time high of 19,763.67 it touched during the day.

The Capped Healthcare Index climbed nearly 4%. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (AUP.TO) gained 7.2% and Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) moved up 6.1%, while Cronos Group (CRON.TO), Organigram Holdings (OGI.TO) and Trillium Therapeutics (TRIL.TO) gained 4 to 4.8%. Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) and Sienna Senior Living (SIA.TO) moved up 2.7% and 1.7%, respectively.

Energy shares Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Parex Resources (PXT.TO) and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) gained 2 to 4.15%.

Information technology stock BlackBerry (BB.TO) soared 10.5%. Tecys Inc (TCS.TO) and Hut 8 Mining (HUT.TO) gained 2.45% and 2.35%, respectively. Evertz Technologies (ET.TO), Sierra Wireless (SW.TO), Open Text Corp (OTEX.TO) and Lightspeed Pos (LSPD.TO) added 1.2 to 1.6%.

Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) gained 1.5% on strong results. The bank reported second-quarter net income of C$1.30 billion, higher than last year's C$689 million. Earnings per share were C$1.91, an increase from C$1.00 last year. The bank's Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of C$1.06 per share on paid-up common shares for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021.

CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), Laurentian Bank (LB.TO) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) gained 1 to 1.2%.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Royal Bank of Canada are scheduled to announce their earnings Thursday morning.