TSX Hits New All-time Closing High

(RTTNews) - After a steady start and a subsequent rise to higher levels, the Canadian stock market pared some gains past noon, but still ended the session on a firm note on Friday, amid rising optimism about U.S.-China trade deal.

Investors appeared a bit reluctant to hold positions at higher levels ahead of upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays.

Information technology stocks had a good outing. A few stocks from industrial, financial and consumer discretionary sections too posted sharp gains.

Materials and energy shares were a bit weak, tracking lower gold and crude oil prices. Healthcare and consumer staples shares closed on a subdued note.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 54.40 points, or 0.32%, at 17,118.44, after recording a fresh all-time high of 17,166.02.

In the information technology space, BlackBerry (BB.TO) soared 12.3% after the company reported an 18% rise in third-quarter revenue, driven by an increase in demand for its cybersecurity software.

The company reported net loss of $32 million for the quarter ended November 2019, compared with net income of $59 million in the year-ago quarter. In the quarter ended August 2019, the company posted a net loss of $44 million.

Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) gained nearly 5%, Constellation Software (CSU.TO) advanced 3.25%, Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO) and Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) gained about 2.4% each, and Exfo Inc. (EXF.TO) ended higher by about 1.05%.

From the industrial section, Morneau Shepell (MSI.TO) gained 3.3%. Richelieu Hardware (RCH.TO), Ballard Power Systems (BLDP.TO), Toromont Industries (TIH.TO), Waste Connections (WCN.TO), Ag Growth International (AFN.TO), Finning International (FTT.TO), Ritchie Bros Auctioneers (RBA.TO), Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) gained 0.8 to 1.7%.

Consumer discretionary shares Martinrea International (MRE.TO), Linamar Corp (LNR.TO), Aritzia Inc. (ATZ.TO), Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) and Gildan Activewear (GIL.TO) gained 1 to 2%.

In the financial space, Canadian Western Bank (CWB.TO), Manulife Financial (MFC.TO), Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) gained 0.5 to 1.8%.

Enbridge Inc. (ENB.TO) and FirstService Corporation (FSV.TO) were among the other notable gainers in the session.

Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO), Corus Entertainment (CJR.B.TO), Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) and Encana Corporation (ECA.TO) ended lower by 1.3 to 4%.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed that retail sales fell sharply in October, driven by lower sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers and at building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers.

Retail sales declined 1.2% in October, following a decline of 0.1% in the previous month. Economists had expected a 0.5% rise.

Core retail sales, excluding motor vehicle and parts dealers, declined 0.5%, in contrast to forecasts for a 0.3% increase. This follows a 0.1% drop in September.

According to another report from Statistics Canada, new housing prices in Canada were down 0.1% month-over-month in November 2019, following a 0.1% gain in October.

U.S. stocks ended higher again. The major averages all ended the session at new record closing highs.

The Dow climbed 0.3%, the Nasdaq advanced 0.4% and the S&P 500 gained 0.5%.

Stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance, while markets in Europe ended on a firm note.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February ended down $0.74, or about 1.2%, at $60.44 a barrel.

Gold futures for February ended down $3.50, or about 0.2%, at $1,480.90 an ounce.

Silver futures for March ended up $0.070 at $17.224 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $2.8060 per pound, down $0.0205 from previous close.