TSX Ends On Firm Note For 2nd Straight Session

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended on a firm note on Monday, extending gains from the previous session, thanks to strong buying in energy, materials and communications sections.

Technology stocks drifted lower. Healthcare and consumer staples stocks found some support.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 106.60 points or 0.53% at 20,206.41, more than 100 points down from the day's high of 20,309.19.

Dye & Durham soared 17.5%. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Precision Drilling (PD.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) and Methanex Corporation (MX.TO) gained 2.5 to 5%.

Nutrien (NTR.TO), West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO), Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) also ended with strong gains.

Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) ended more than 10% down. Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO), Nuvei Corporation (NVEI.TO), Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO) and Tecsys (TCS.TO) ended lower by 5 to 8%.

In economic news, data released by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed housing starts in Canada jumped by 8% over a month earlier to 267,330 units in April of 2022, beating market expectations.

Final data from Statistics Canada showed manufacturing sales in Canada rose by 2.5% from a month earlier to C$ 70.2 billion in March of 2022, easing from an upwardly revised 5.1% jump in the previous month but surpassing the preliminary estimate of 1.7%.

Meanwhile, wholesale sales in Canada rebounded by 0.3% month-over-month to C$ 79.8 billion in March of 2022, compared with a preliminary estimate of a 0.3% drop and a revised 0.4% decline in February.