Canadian Market Ends On Strong Note As Investors Cheer Earnings, Economic Data

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market closed on a strong note on Thursday, with investors cheering buoyant earnings updates from the Royal Bank of Canada and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Slightly easing concerns about the outlook for Fed interest rates helped as well.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up by 173.73 points or 0.79% at 22,071.71. The index scaled a low of 21,915.30 and a high of 22,108.76 intraday.

The Financials Capped Index climbed 1.89%. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) surged 7% after reporting adjusted net income of $1,718 million for the second quarter, compared to $1,628 million a year ago.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) gained 5.2%. The bank reported net income of $4.0 billion for the quarter ended April 30, 2024 , up $270 million or 7% from the prior year.

EQB Inc (EQB.TO) soared 13.5%. The company announced after trading hours on Wednesday that its second-quarter adjusted net income came in at $111 million, up 2% quarter on quarter, and up 8% on the year.

Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.TO), Goeasy (GSY.TO), Intact Financial Corp (IFC.TO) and CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO) gained 1.3 to 3%.

The Utilities Capped Index firmed 1.51%. Innergex Renewable Energy (INE.TO) and Boralex (BLX.TO) zoomed 8.2% and 7.05%, respectively. Brookfield Infra Partners (BEP.UN.TO) gained 3.7% and Brookfield Infra Partners (BIP.UN.TO) ended 2.6% up.

Gildan Activewear (GIL.TO), Bombardier Inc (BBD.A.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO) and FirstService Corporation (FSV.TO) were among the other prominent gainers in the session.

Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) dropped 6.8%. Dayforce Inc (DAY.TO) drifted down 5.6%. Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO, Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), CGI Inc (GIB.A.TO) and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) also declined sharply.

On the economic front, a report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said its business barometer in Canada, reflecting 12-month forward expectations for business performance in the country, climbed to 56.4 in May from an upwardly revised 47.6 in the prior month.

Revised data released by the Commerce Department on Thursday showed U.S. economic growth slowed by more than previously estimated in the first quarter of 2024. The Commerce Department said gross domestic product climbed by 1.3% in the first quarter compared to the previously reported 1.6% growth.

Meanwhile, first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits crept modestly higher in the week ended May 25th, according to a report released by the Labor Department.