The Canadian market achieved a new milestone on Thursday as investors responded positively to the Federal Reserve's decision to reduce interest rates by 50 basis points. The surge in crude oil and gold prices fueled strong buying interest in energy and materials stocks, driving the market's impressive rise. Technology stocks also performed exceptionally well.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index reached an all-time high of 23,909.53 and concluded the session with a gain of 273.67 points, or 1.16%, at 23,866.27, marking a new record closing high.
The Capped Information Technology index surged nearly 3%. Notable performers included Dye & Durham (DND.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), Tecsys Inc (TCS.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO), Bitfarms (BITF.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Open Text Corp (OTEX.TO), and Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO), with gains ranging from 2.4% to 6%.
In the energy sector, Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Advantage Oil & Gas (AAV.TO), Ces Energy Solutions (CEU.TO), International Petroleum Corp (IPCO.TO), Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), and MEG Energy Corp (MEG.TO) advanced by 2.3% to 3.2%.
Significant gains were also seen among materials stocks, with Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO) climbing more than 6.5%. Other notable performers included Lundin Mining Corp (LUN.TO), Ero Copper (ERO.TO), Capstone Mining (CS.TO), Equinox Gold (EQX.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), and Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), which saw increases between 3.5% and 6%.
In the financial sector, EQB Inc (EQB.TO), goeasy (GSY.TO), Laurentian Bank (LB.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), Onex Corp (ONEX.TO), Manulife Financial (MFC.TO), and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) posted gains ranging from 1.7% to 3%.
Consumer discretionary stocks also enjoyed robust performance, with Mty Food Group (MTY.TO), Magna International (MG.TO), Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO), and Spin Master Corp (TOY.TO) recording substantial gains.
