Canadian equities rose sharply around midday on Friday, mirroring the strong performance of U.S. stocks. This uptick follows encouraging inflation data from the Commerce Department, boosting expectations of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve come September.
Technology stocks, recovering from recent declines, led the gains. Significant advancements were also observed in the healthcare, real estate, industrials, financials, and materials sectors. In contrast, energy stocks underperformed, with other sectors displaying mixed results.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 156.10 points, or 0.69%, to 22,764.13 as of a few minutes before noon.
Notable individual performances included Winpak Ltd. (WPK.TO), which surged by 5.4%, and Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), which rose by 4.3%. Newmont Corporation (NGT.TO), West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO), BRP Inc (DOO.TO), and Colliers International (CIGI.TO) also saw gains ranging from 2.3% to 3.2%.
Other stocks such as WSP Global (WSP.TO), Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Intact Financial Corporation (IFC.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), and goeasy (GSY.TO) increased between 1% and 2%.
Conversely, Advantage Energy (AAV.TO) fell 6.7%. Bombardier Inc (BBD.A.TO), Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (PBH.TO), Linamar Corporation (LNR.TO), and George Weston (WN.TO) experienced declines between 0.8% and 1.6%.
Canfor Corp (CFP.TO) reported a widened adjusted loss to $168.7 million, or $1.42 per share, in the second quarter, up from $44.3 million, or $0.36 per share, the previous year. The stock saw a slight dip following this announcement.
Eldorado Gold Inc. (ELD.TO) gained 3.5% after announcing adjusted earnings of US$66.6 million for the second quarter, a significant increase from US$9.7 million in the same quarter last year.
MEG Energy Corp (MEG.TO) fell nearly 1%, despite reporting net earnings of $234 million for the first half of the current financial year, up from $217 million in the first half of 2023.
In economic news, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business reported that the Canada Business Barometer, which projects business performance expectations over the next 12 months, dipped slightly to 55.4 in July from a downwardly revised 56.0 in June.
Statistics Canada indicated that wholesale sales in Canada fell by 0.6% month-over-month in June, following a 0.8% decline in May, according to preliminary estimates.
