TSX Rises 1.5%, Posts Biggest Single-session Gain In 5 Months

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended on a buoyant note on Friday on fairly widespread buying after data showed the Canadian economy saw a much bigger than expected addition of jobs in the month of April.

Strong U.S. non-farm payrolls employment, and encouraging results from Apple Inc. contributed as well to the bullish sentiment in the market.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 303.84 points or 1.5% at 20,542.03, recording its biggest single-session gain in five months.

The mood remained quite positive after data showed jobs growth in Canada beat expectations for a fifth straight month. According to the data released by Statistics Canada, the Canadian economy added 41,400 jobs in April 2023, much higher than an expected addition of 20,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate in Canada was at 5% for a fifth consecutive month in April, remaining near the record low of 4.9% seen in June and July of 2022.

Meanwhile, average hourly earnings for permanent employeess in Canada increased by 5.2% year-on-year to $34.13 in April.

Data from the Labor Department showed non-farm payroll employment in the U.S. shot up by 253,000 jobs in April compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 179,000 jobs.

Technology, Energy and Healthcare stocks rallied sharply, lifting the respective sectoral indices by 3.61%, 3.35%, and 3.01%, respectively.

Consumer discretionary, financials and industrials shares also posted impressive gains, while shares from the rest of the sectors closed on a mixed note.

The Information Technology Capped Index surged 3.61%. Open Text Corp (OTEX.TO) soared more than 12%. The company reported a revenue of $1,244.7 million for the third-quarter, compared with revenue of $882.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) climbed nearly 7%. BlackBerry (BB.TO), Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO), Softchoice (SFTC.TO) and Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) gained 4 to 7%.

Energy stocks rallied as oil prices rose sharply. Arc Resources (ARX.TO) and Pason Systems (PSI.TO) surged 7.5% and 8.7%, respectively. Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO), Advantage Oil & Gas (AAV.TO), PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Athabasca Oil Corp (ATH.TO) and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) rallied 3.2 to 5.4%.

Among the stocks in the Healthcare Index, Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) climbed 8.5%, Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) gained 6.55% and Chartwell Retirement Residences (CSH.UN.TO) gained 5.8%, while Sienna Senior Living (SIA.TO) advanced 2.1%.

Computer discretionary shares Magna International (MG.TO), Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) and Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO) gained 6.3%, 5.1% and 4.1%, respectively. Spin Master Corp (TOY.TO), Mty Food Group (MTY.TO), Sleep Country Canada Holdings (ZZZ.TO) and Linamar Corp (LNR.TO) ended higher by 2.2 to 3.3%.

In the Financials section, Goeasy Ltd. (GSY.TO) surged 4.35%. Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO), Laurentian Bank (LB.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) gained 2 to 3%.

Air Canada (AC.TO), up 11.6%, was the top gainer in the industrials section. The stock rose after the company lifted its profit forecast. Ballard Power Systems (BLDP.TO) surged nearly 2.5% and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) climbed 2.2%. Cargojet (CJT.TO) and Finning International (FTT.TO) also posted strong gains.