The market rose for a second consecutive session on Wednesday, as investors continued to show confidence in equities after a run of stronger-than-expected economic data, including the U.S. consumer confidence and pending home sales. The TSX Composite Index climbed 180 points, or 0.9%, yesterday to settle at 19,838, its highest closing level since March 9.
While all key sectors ended the session in the green territory, healthcare, energy, and consumer cyclical stocks primarily led the Canadian stock market rally.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Aritzia, ECN Capital, Shopify, and Precision Drilling were the top-performing TSX Composite components for the day, as they advanced by at least 5% each on March 29.
Lundin Mining also popped 4.6% to $8.73 per share in the last session, extending its week-to-date gains to 10.5%. This rally came after the Toronto-headquartered mining company announced that it intends to acquire a majority stake in Chile-based Caserones Copper Mine earlier this week.
In contrast, shares of goeasy (TSX:GSY) slipped for the second day in a row after it revealed how a recent reduction in the maximum allowable rate by the Federal Government on Tuesday might impact its overall business outlook.
Notably, goeasy has largely been trading on a bearish note after reaching its highest level of 2023 ($133.34 per share) in mid-February. Since then, it has lost nearly 30% of its value to now trade at $93.37 per share. At the current market price, GSY stock has a 4.1% annualized dividend yield.
Spartan Delta, OceanaGold, and Torex Gold Resources were also among the bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange yesterday, as they fell by at least 3% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, TC Energy, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Crescent Point Energy, and Kinross Gold were the most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices, especially crude oil, silver, and copper, were trading on a bullish note early Thursday morning. At the same time, nearly all major global stock indexes were in the green. Given these positive indicators, the commodity-heavy main TSX index could inch up at the open today. The release of important quarterly U.S. gross domestic product data this morning, however, could give further direction to the market.
On the corporate events side, TSX-listed companies like BlackBerry and K92 Mining are expected to announce their latest quarterly results on March 30.
