FX.co ★ Canadian Market Up Sharply, Looks Headed For Buoyant Close

On Monday afternoon, the Canadian stock market climbed significantly due to buying support fueled by the expectation of interest rate cuts by various central banks globally, including the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, and the Bank of Canada. The possibility of a rate cut in June was hinted at by Tiff Macklem, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, provided Canadian inflation continues to decrease.

Recent data from the U.S. Labor Department indicates that the number of jobs added in the country fell below expectations in April. According to the report, the unemployment rate inched up to 3.9%, while the annual wage growth rate dipped slightly to 4% in April from 4.1% the previous month.

Impressive gains were observed in various sectors ranging from technology and materials to energy and financials. Consumer staples and communication stocks also performed well. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index rose by 302.23 points or 1.4%, reaching 22,249.64.

In the tech sector, the Information Technology Capped Index climbed nearly 2% with companies like Hut 8 Corp, Bit Farms, Celestica Inc, Tecsys Inc, BlackBerry and Lightspeed Commerce increasing in value by 3.5 to 6.3%. Other companies such as Converge Technology Solutions, Constellation Software, Shopify Inc, Alithya Corp, and Docebo Inc also saw a sharp rise in their shares.

In the energy sector, Baytex Energy and Birchcliff Energy saw increases of 6% and 4.5% respectively. Other companies such as Advantage Oil & Gas, Tourmaline Oil Corp, Arc Resource, Africa Oil Corp, Whitecap Resources, MEG Energy, and Vermilion Energy experienced an increase of 2.5 to 4%.

Shares in the materials sector also soared with First Majestic Silver Corp rising by 7.2%, while Fortuna Silver Mines and K92 Mining Inc are up 6% and 5.5% respectively. Stocks in Oceanagold, Canterra Gold Inc, Pan American Silver Corp, Sandstorm Gold, and Lundin Gold also showed a rise of 4% to 5%.

Within the utilities sector, stocks of Brookfield Renewable Partners, Innergex Renewable Energy, and Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp showed an increase of almost 3%. TransAlta gained 2%, and Capital Power and Canadian Utilities also rose substantially.

The financial index's best performer was Great-West Lifeco, which rose by 2.5%, after announcing a long-term strategic partnership with Power Sustainable Manager, a subsidiary of Power Corp of Canada, which also rose by nearly 2%. Other financial companies such as Manulife Financial, IA Financial Corp, Bank of Montreal, Brookfield Corporation, Trisura Group, and Toronto-Dominion Bank saw gains of 1.5 to 2%.

In the industrial sector, the Snc-Lavalin Group saw a jump of 5.8%, while Badger Infrastructure Solutions moved up by 5%. Other companies in the sector, such as Bombardier Inc, Ballard Power Systems, Russel Metals, Canada Pacific Kansas City, and Canadian National Railway, grew in value from 2 to 4%.