TSX Ends On Buoyant Note

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended on a buoyant note on Monday, led by gains in energy, industrials and healthcare sections.

Information technology, consumer discretionary and financial shares too moved higher.

A positive trend in Europe and higher crude oil prices aided sentiment. However, persisting worries about U.S.-China trade conflict limited market's uptick a bit. The volume of business was somewhat thin due to a holiday in the U.S. for Memorial Day.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 116.62 points, or 0.72%, at 16,346.66.

On Friday, the index ended higher by 65.43 points, or 0.4%, at 16,230.04.

The Energy Index ended up 1.73%. Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Enerplus Corporation (ERF.TO), Parex Resources (PXT.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO) and ARC Resources (ARX.TO) gained 1 to 2.5%.

From the materials space, Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) jumped 12.3%. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) gained 2.05%. Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) and IAMgold (IMG.TO) also ended notably higher.

In the healthcare space, Aphria (APHA.TO) gained more than 4.5%. Cronos Group Inc. (CRON.TO) advanced 3.5%, Hexo Corp. (HEXO.TO) gained 3.3%, Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) ended 2.1% up and Knight Therapeutics Inc. (GUD.TO) moved up 1.9%.

Sienna Senior Living and Canopy Growth Corp. (WEED.TO) gained 1.4% and 1%, respectively.

CannTrust Holdings (TRST.TO) ended with a gain of 1.9%. CannTrust announced that it has launched a cannabis education portal with Well.ca, which will serve as a resource and education centre for those interested in exploring medical cannabis, leveraging content, insights and expertise from CannTrust's medical business.

In the financial space, Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) ended notably higher.

Among the stocks in the Industrials Index, Transcontinental Inc. (TCL.A.TO) ended nearly 3% up. Finning International (FTT.TO), Air Canada (AC.TO), Aecon Group (ARE.TO), WSP Global (WSP.TO), Brookfield Business Partners (BBU.UN.TO), SNC-Lavalin (SNC.TO), Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO), Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO), CAE Inc. (CAE.TO) and Chorus Aviation Inc. (CHR.TO) gained 1 to 2.1%.

Information technology stocks Sierra Wireless (SW.TO), Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO), Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO) and Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO) posted solid gains.

Enghouse Systems Limited (ENGH.TO) today announced that it has successfully completed its acquisition of Espial Group Inc. (ESP.TO). Stephen Sadler, Chairman & CEO of Enghouse, said that the acquisition will enable Enghouse's global customers to deliver emerging, next generation IP and 5G network subscriber services. The stock ended higher by about 0.5%.

Among consumer discretionary stocks, Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) gained more than 2.5%. Magna International (MG.TO), BRP Inc. (DOO.TO), Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO), Linamar Corp. (LNR.TO) and Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) ended higher by 0.5 to 1.6%.

European markets ended mostly higher on Monday, with investors reacting positively to results of European Union Parliamentary elections.

Asian markets ended mixed.

In commodities, crude oil futures for July edged up $0.60 or 1.02% to $60.23 a barrel.

Gold futures for June were up $0.70, or 0.05%, at $1,284.30 an ounce.

Silver futures for July gained $0.03, or 0.21%, at $14.585 an ounce, while Copper futures for July were up $0.0145, or 0.54%, at $2.7140 per pound.