Amidst subdued trading activity, the Canadian market closed higher on Friday, marking its ninth consecutive day of gains and achieving its longest winning streak in over three years. Concerns about potential new U.S. tariffs affected market sentiment and capped any substantial upward movement.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index rose by 34.41 points, or 0.14%, to a close of 25,468.49, reaching its highest level in six weeks. Over the week, the index advanced approximately 1.6%.
Notable gains were observed in the communications and utilities sectors, while technology and energy stocks ended the session weak. Other sectors showed a mixed performance.
Among the top performers were Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO), Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.TO), Propel Holdings (PRL.TO), Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO), and Pollard Banknote (PBL.TO), all finishing 3% to 5% higher.
Companies such as Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS.TO), Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO), Magna International (MG.TO), CCL Industries (CCL.A.TO), Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO), Rogers Communications (RCI.A.TO), Dayforce (DAY.TO), Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO), and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) recorded gains ranging from 1.5% to 2.5%.
Conversely, Richelieu Hardware (RCH.TO), Ag Growth International (AFN.TO), AtkinsRealis (ATRL.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Nutrien (NTR.TO), Parkland Corporation (PKI.TO), Badger Infrastructure (BDGI.TO), ATS Corporation (ATS.TO), and Cameco Corporation (CCO.TO) saw declines between 1.6% and 3.2%.
Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) rose by 1.2%. The company, along with O3 Mining (OIII.V), announced that Agnico Eagle has acquired 110,424,431 common shares of O3 Mining, representing approximately 94.1% of the outstanding common shares of O3 Mining, in connection with its take-over bid.
In economic developments, Canada's new home prices edged down by 0.1% month-over-month in December 2024, following a 0.1% rise in November, as reported by Statistics Canada. The annual House Price Index fell to 0.1% in December from 0.2% in November 2024.
Furthermore, Canada's manufacturing sales increased by 0.6% from the previous month in December 2024, building on the 0.8% growth observed in the prior month, according to preliminary estimates.