TSX Ends Marginally Up

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended marginally up on Wednesday, thanks to strong gains in materials and energy stocks.

Healthcare and technology stocks drifted lower.

In addition to digesting the data on Canadian manufacturing activity, investors also reacted to the latest batch of earnings updates.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 38.59 points or 0.19% at 20,259.78, after scaling a low of 20,200.90 and a high of 20,318.91 intraday.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) drifted down more than 3.5%. The bank reported a net income of $3.2 billion for the quarter ended January 31, 2023, down $881 million or 22% from the prior year. Diluted EPS was $2.29 , down 19% over the same period.

National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) gained about 1.7%. The bank reported a net income of $881 million for the first quarter of 2023, down 5% from $930 million in the first quarter of 2022. George Weston Limited (WN.TO) reported adjusted net earnings from continuing operations of $369 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, an increase of $22 million, or 6.3%, from a year ago. The stock gained about 0.85%.

Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) reported a profit of $8.56 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, as against a loss of $2.92 million in the year-ago quarter. The stock ended with a modest gain of about 0.3%.

Data released by Markit Economics showed the S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI rose to 52.4 in February 2023 from 51 in the previous month. The latest reading pointed to the second consecutive month of expansion in factory activity and the quickest since last July.