TSX Ends Higher For 4th Straight Day

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market moved higher after a flat start Wednesday morning, and despite a couple of setbacks that very nearly pushed it down into the red, ended the session on a firm note.

Investors digested quarterly earnings announcements from the Bank of Montreal and Bank of Nova Scotia, and the minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 97.55 points or 0.48% at 20,383.75 after scaling a low of 20,290.69 and a high of 20,452.54 intraday.

Healthcare stocks rebounded after suffering sharp losses in the previous session. Technology stocks too recovered from recent losses. Energy stocks moved higher, tracking firm crude oil prices. Shares from consumer, financials and communications sectors were among the other prominent gainers.

The Health Care Capped Index climbed 2.75%. Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) surged up 6.3%, Well Health Technologies (WELL.TO), Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) and Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) gained 4.4 to 5.1%, while Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) ended 3.3% up.

The Energy Capped Index surged up 2.04%. Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) rallied nearly 9%, Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), Parex Resources (PXT.TO) and Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO) gained 5.5 to 6.25%, while Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) and Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO) ended higher by 4.75% and 4.3%, respectively.

Among technology stocks, Softchoice Corp (SFTC.TO) soared nearly 8%. Alithya Corp (ALYA.TO), Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO) and Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO) gained 5%, 4.7% and 4.4%, respectively. BlackBerry (BB.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO), Haivision Systems (HAI.TO) and Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO) also moved up sharply.

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) gained nearly 3%. The bank reported adjusted net income of $2,765 million for the second quarter of this financial year, compared to adjusted net income of $2,475 million in the year-ago quarter.

Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) reported adjusted net income of $2,187 million for the second quarter of this fiscal, up 4% from $2,095 million a year ago. The stock ended marginally down.

Maxar Technologies (MAXR.TO) shares soared nearly 18% after the National Reconnaissance Office announced today that it has awarded BlackSky, Maxar Technologies and Planet Labs 10-year contracts to provide satellite imagery for U.S. intelligence, defense and federal civil agencies.

The Fed minutes indicated that the central bank intends to move "expeditiously" to a more neutral monetary policy stance. The minutes revealed the Fed plans to use both interest rate increases and reductions in the size of its balance sheet to achieve a neutral posture.

The minutes of the meeting showed most participants agreed additional 50 basis point increases would likely be appropriate at the "next couple of meetings."