TSX Ends Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Despite lingering worries about growth and the war in Ukraine, and rising prospects of a series of sharp interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, the Canadian market ended modestly higher on Wednesday thanks to strong gains in energy and materials sections.

Strong results from Teck Resources and Cenovus Energy supported sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which briefly slipped into negative territory in early trades, climbed to 20,855.48 later and finally ended the session with a gain of 53.42 points or 0.26% at 20,744.23.

The Energy Capped Index surged up 3.38%. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) soared 10.3%. Cenovus reported net earnings of $1,625 million for the quarter ended March 2022, compared with net loss of $408 million in the year-ago quarter. The company nearly tripled its dividend.

Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO) and Advantage Oil & Gas (AAV.TO) gained 3 to 6.1%.

The Materials Capped Index advanced 1.04%. Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) zoomed 11.7% on strong results. The company reported a five-fold jump in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, aided by higher prices for copper and steelmaking coal. The company reported adjusted basic earnings per share of $3.02 in the first-quarter, up from $0.61 per share a year ago.

Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Capstone Mining Corp (CS.TO), Winpak (WPK.TO) and Lundin Mining Corp (LUN.TO) gained 3 to 5.2%.