(RTTNews) - The Canadian market posted new intraday and closing highs on Thursday, lifted by gains in technology, consumer discretionary, materials and utilities sectors. Strong results from U.S. chipmaker Micron, and expectations of more interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve helped underpin sentiment.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which climbed to 24,107.00, ended the day's session at 24,033.83, gaining 127.95 points or 0.54%.
The Information Technology Capped Index climbed nearly 2%. BlackBerry (BB.TO) gained nearly 7%. Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO) and Quarterhill (QTRH.TO) ended up 6.7% and 6%, respectively.
Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO), Bitfarms (BITF.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), Descartes Systems (DSG.TO), Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) and CGI Group (GIB.A.TO) advanced 2 to 4.5%.
Consumer discretionary stock Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) rallied more than 9%. Spin Master Corp (TOY.TO), Magna International (MG.TO), Mty Food Group (MTY.TO), BRP Inc (DOO.TO), Canadian Tire Corp (CTC.A.TO) and Linamar Corp (LNR.TO) gained 2 to 5%.
Innergex Renewable Energy (INE.TO), up 3.7%, was the top gainer in the Utilities sector. Brookfield Infra Partners (BIP.UN.TO), Northland Power (NPI.TO), Boralex (BLX.TO), Capital Power (CPX.TO), Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp (AQN.TO), Atco (ACO.X.TO) and Superior Plus Corp (SPB.TO) ained 1.5 to 3%.
In the Materials sector, Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO) and Capstone Mining (CS.TO) rallied 7.7% and 6.3%, respectively. Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Ero Copper (ERO.TO), Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO) and Lundin Mining Corp (LUN.TO) gained 4.4 to 6%.
On the economic front, average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees in Canada rose by 4.5% year-on-year to $1,267.5 in July 2024, the most in five months, following an upwardly revised 4.2% growth in June, data from Statistics Canada showed.
Wholesale sales in Canada fell by 1.1% month-over-month in August 2024, following a 0.4% increase in July, preliminary estimates revealed for Statistics Canada.
