Canadian stocks went sideways on Friday as investors continued to monitor global trade developments and first-quarter corporate earnings results. After rising for three consecutive sessions, the S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped by 17 points for the day to settle at 24,711.
Despite continued buying in technology and utility stocks, weakness in some sectors, including industrials, mining, and healthcare, weighed on the TSX. Nevertheless, the market index still ended the week with a strong 2.1% gain — marking its third consecutive winning week.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
NovaGold Resources, Energy Fuels, TFI International, and WSP Global were the worst-performing TSX stocks, with each sliding by at least 4.3%.
Shares of Celestica (TSX:CLS) also fell more than 3% to $123.45 apiece after the company reported its first-quarter financial results. While Celestica delivered record quarterly revenue of $2.65 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.20 per share, both topping the high end of its guidance, investors appeared to lock in gains following the stock’s strong run-up in the last year.
Nonetheless, Celestica’s management expressed optimism about strengthening demand, especially from its Connectivity and Cloud Solutions segment. Notably, CLS stock has surged by 109% over the last 12 months.
In contrast, Boralex, Spin Master, TransAlta, and Shopify climbed by at least 2.2% each, making them the session’s top gainers on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Based on their daily trade volume, Royal Bank of Canada, Manulife Financial, Canadian Natural Resources, TC Energy, and Enbridge were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices across the board were bearish in early trading on Monday, which could pressure the resource-heavy main TSX index at the open today.
While no major economic releases or corporate events are due today, TSX may remain volatile as Canadian voters head to the polls to elect members to Parliament, setting the stage for the country’s next government.