After an initial slow period in the trading session, the Canadian market flourished this Monday. Key driving forces behind the market's positive turn were an influx of investments in various sectors such as consumer businesses, technology, and real estate. Consequently, the trading day ended on a high note.
Significant gains were also recorded for stocks in the industrials, utilities, financial, and communications sector. In contrast, the performance of the materials and healthcare sectors was somewhat lackluster. Energy stocks demonstrated an uneven performance.
Despite a lessening geopolitical tension, the sentiment remained cautious among investors. This was mainly due to the anticipation of numerous key U.S economic data releases.
The principal market index, the S&P/TSX Composite Index, showed a healthy rise of 64.59 points or 0.3%, ending at 21,871.96. The index marked its lowest at 21,733.79 and peaked at 21,930.89 during the session.
Celestica Inc., Restaurant Brands International, Colliers International, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Loblaw Companies, and CGI Inc. each ended the day with gains between 1.5% to 2.3%. Stocks of George Weston, FirstService Corporation, Kinaxis Inc., Thomson Reuters, TFI International, and goEasy also concluded with notable advancements.
However, not all shares enjoyed the day's growth. Seabridge Gold Inc. saw a significant drop of 6.5%, while Endeavour Mining Plc declined by 5.2%. Other corporations that recorded losses between 2 to 4.3% include Newmont Corporation, Teck Resources, Franco Nevada Corporation, Agnico Eagle Mines, Wheaton Precious Metals, Fairfax Financial Holdings, and Cameco Corporation.
On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada highlighted a month-over-month increase of 0.8% in Canada's industrial product price index during March. Nonetheless, it took a slight dip of 0.5% in an annual comparison. The raw material price index rose by 4.7% in March from the previous month, and it grew by 0.8% on an annual basis.
Additional data from Statistics Canada revealed no month-to-month changes in new home prices in March. Yet, when compared to the previous year's figures, new home prices in March saw a decrease of 0.4%, marking a year-long downward trend.
