TSX Hits New High, Ends On Firm Note Again

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market hit a fresh record high and closed on a bright note on Friday, as optimism about earnings and strong economic recovery helped offset concerns about inflation and interest rate hikes.

Firm crude oil prices, data showing an unexpected increase in U.S. retail sales helped as well.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which climbed to a fresh record high of 20,969.36, ended the session with a gain of 108.16 points or 0.52% at 20,928.10. The Index gained about 2.5% in the week, the biggest weekly rise since March this year.

Financial, consumer discretionary, industrials and information technology stocks were among the notable gainers. Healthcare stocks were weak.

Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO) shares soared 15.4% after investment banker DA Davidson raised the stock's rating to "Buy" and announced a price target of $20.

First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) climbed 8%, Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.TO), Dye & Durham (DND.TO), CCL Industries (CCL.A.TO), Linamar Corporation (LNR.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO) and Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO) gained 1 to 6%.

Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ.TO) closed more than 15% down. Methanex Corporation (MX.TO), TECSys Inc (TCS.TO) and Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (PBH.TO) lost 1 to 2.5%.

On the economic front, the industrial product price in Canada went up 1% month over month in September, following a 0.3% drop in the previous month, a preliminary estimate showed. Producer prices increased 15% in September over the same month in the previous year.

Data from Statistics Canada showed wholesale sales in Canada edged up 0.3% over a month earlier to C$ 70.3 billion in August, slightly worse than initial estimates of a 0.5% increase.

Another data from Statistics Canada showed car registrations in the country decreased to 149,778 Units in August from 156,049 Units in July.