TSX Gains For 3rd Straight Day, Ends Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended modestly higher on Thursday, as strong earnings from major banks and optimism about economic recovery underpinned sentiment.

Consumer discretionary, energy, healthcare and financial shares posted notable gains. Information technology and telecom stocks were subdued.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which hit a fresh record high at 19,835.27, ended with a gain of 28.94 points or 0.15% at 19,774.41.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) gained nearly 3%. The bank reported overall net profit of C$1.65 billion or C$3.55 a share for the quarter ended April 30, 2021, up from C$392 million, or 83 Canadian cents, a year ago.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) climbed 1.25%. The bank posted net income of C$4 billion or C$2.76 a share, up from C$1.48 billion, or C$1 per share, a year ago.

CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO) gained 1.86%, Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO), Manulife Financial (MFC.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO) and Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) gained 0.5 to 0.75%.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) declined 2.5%. The group reported second-quarter net income of C$3.70 billion or C$1.99 per share, up sharply from C$1.52 billion or C$0.80 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Consumer discretionary stocks Martinrea International (MRE.TO) and Linamar Corp (LNR.TO) climbed 5.6% and 4.1%, respectively. Magna International (MG.TO), Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) and Brp Inc (DOO.TO) gained 3.6%, 3.1% and 2.5%, respectively.

Among the stocks in the healthcare section, Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) gained 5.15%, Trillium Therapeutics (TRIL.TO) climbed 2.65% and Organigram Holdings (OGI.TO) ended higher by about 2%.

Energy stock Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) rallied 3.4%. Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) and Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO) gained 1.4 to 2.1%.

In economic news, data from Statistics Canada showed average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees in Canada advanced 7.4% year-on-year to C$1,125 in March.