TSX Ends On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended on a firm note on Tuesday and the benchmark moved closer to its record high and closed at its best level since December 27.

Slightly fading concerns over U.S.-Iran tensions helped lift sentiment. Gold's sustained rise triggered strong buying in the materials space and contributed significantly to market's rise. Information technology, consumer discretionary and consumer staples shares were among the other prominent gainers.

Shares from telecommunications and industrial sectors too found good support. Healthcare shares eased and shares from energy and financial sections closed on a mixed note.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 62.59 points, or 0.37%, at 17,168.06, slightly off the day's high of 17,178.04.

First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) gained more than 4.5% on strong volumes. Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO) ended stronger by 3% and B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO) gained about 1.2%.

Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC.TO) and Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) gained 1 to 1.2% on impressive volumes.

Lightspeed POS Inc. (LSPD.TO) shares soared 8.6% after the company announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Gastrofix, a quickly-growing market leader for cloud-based POS hospitality software in Germany.

Polaris Infrastructure (PIF.TO) gained about 7.5%. Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO), Air Canada (AC.TO), Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO), Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO) and Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO) gained 1.4 to 3%.

ARC Resources (ARX.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) ended with sharp to moderate losses.

On the economic front, data released by Statistics Canada showed Canada's trade deficit narrowed to C$ 1.1 billion in November 2019 from an upwardly revised C$ 1.6 billion in October.

Exports declined 1.4% from a month earlier to C$ 48.70 billion in November 2019, after dropping 0.4% in October and below market estimates of C$ 49.3 billion. Imports shrank 2.4% from a month earlier to C$ 49.78 billion in November 2019, after rising 0.6% in October and missing market expectations of C$ 51.02 billion.

A report from Richard Ivey School of Business said the Ivey PMI for Canada fell to 51.9 in December 2019 from 60 in the previous month and missing market forecasts of 53.8.

U.S. stocks ended modestly lower after a lackluster session. The Dow slid 0.4%, the Nasdaq edged down less than a tenth of a percent and the S&P 500 declined 0.3%.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came amid uncertainty about the impact of rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran following the U.S. airstrike that killed top Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $0.57, or about 0.9%, at $62.70 a barrel.

Gold futures for February ended up $5.50, or about 0.4%, at $1,574.30 an ounce, the highest settlement since April 2013.

Silver futures for March ended up $0.214 at $18.393 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $2.7935 per pound, gaining $0.0035 for the session.