TSX Ends Marginally Up After Lackluster Session

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended marginally up on Thursday after stocks turned in a mixed performance, reacting to the movements in the commodities market and amid concerns over inflation and likely policy tightening by the Federal Reserve.

Technology and healthcare stocks drifted lower. Energy, materials, communications and industrials shares found some support. Financials and consumer sector shares mostly ended on a subdued note.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which moved in a tight range between 21,843.04 and 21,935.53, ended the session with a gain of 17.68 points or 0.08% at 21,855.70.

Cogeco Inc (CGO.TO) rallied 3.3%. The company announced after trading hours on Wednesday that its adjusted EBITDA increased by 13.2% to $349.2 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2022 compared to the corresponding quarter in the previous year.

Cogeco Communications Inc (CCA.TO) ended higher by about 3.2%. The company announced on Wednesday evening that its adjusted EBITDA increased by 13.7% to $349.1 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2022 compared to the year-ago quarter.

Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO), Nutrien (NTR.TO), Sprott Inc (SII.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO), Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO), Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) and Methanex Corporation (MX.TO) gained 1.5 to 2.6%.

Among the prominent losers, Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) and North West Company (NWC.TO) ended lower by 5.1% and 4.8%, respectively. Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), TFI International (TFII.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) shed 2 to 4%.

On the economic front, final data from Statistics Canada showed manufacturing sales in Canada rose for the fifth straight month, jumping by 4.2% from a month earlier to C$ 67.7 billion in February, accelerating from a 0.6% gain in the previous month and surpassing the preliminary estimate of 3.7%.

Meanwhile, wholesale sales in Canada fell by 0.4% month-over-month to C$ 78.8 billion in February of 2022, declining for the first time since July of 2021.