TSX Posts Record Closing High

(RTTNews) - After an early uptick and a subsequent brief stay in negative territory, the Canadian market climbed to new record high Wednesday morning, and eventually ended the day on a slightly positive note.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which posted a fresh record high at 20,612.41, ended the session with a gain of 39.56 points or 0.19% at 20,587.32.

Financials moved higher after top banks reported better than expected earnings. Materials shares were mostly weak as bullion prices drifted lower.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) gained about 0.85%. The banks said that its third quarter pre-provision, pre-tax earnings increased 6% from a year ago. Third-quarter adjusted earnings per share increased by 35% to C$3.00 from a year ago.

Onex Corp (ONEX.TO), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO), Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.A.TO) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) gained 1 to 1.5%. Manulife Financial (MFC.TO) and CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO) also closed higher.

National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) reported that its third-quarter net income increased to C$839 million or C$2.36 per share from C$602 million or C$1.66 per share in the prior-year quarter. However, the stock shed 0.55% in the session.

B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Yamana Gold (YRI.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO), Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), Kirkland Lake Gold (KL.TO), Franco-Nevada Corp (FNV.TO) and Ssr Mining Inc (SSRM.TO) lost 1.7 to 3%.

MTY Food Group (MTY.TO), Lightspeed Pos (LSPD.TO), Goeasy (GSY.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) and Colliers International (CIGI.TO) gained 1.3 to 2.5%.

Boyd Group (BYD.TO) and CGI Inc. (GIB.A.TO) ended lower by 2% and 1.4%, respectively.

Data from Statistics Canada showed wholesale sales in Canada likely fell 2% month-on-month in July, declining for a second straight month.