TSX Rises For 8th Straight Session

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market continued its climb up north with stocks turning in a fine performance on Thursday on hopes some major central banks, including the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in the first quarter.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, U.S. President Donald Trump reaffirmed his earlier promises of tax cuts, tariffs on trading partners, and increased energy production. He also urged major central banks to lower interest rates.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 122.58 points or 0.48% at 25,434.08, rising for the eighth consecutive session.

Consumer discretionary, consumer staples, industrials and utilities stocks were among the major gainers. A few stocks from financials and communications sectors also moved notably higher.

Propel Holdings (PRL.TO), Badger Infrastructure Solutions (BDGI.TO) and Aecon Group Inc. (ARE.TO) climbed 9.9%, 8.8% and 7.3%, respectively.

Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO), goeasy (GSY.TO), TerraVest Industries (TVK.TO), George Weston (WN.TO), Methanex Corporation (MX.TO), Nutrien (NTR.TO), E-L- Financial Corporation (ELF.TO) and MTY Food Group (MTY.TO) gained 2 to 4.5%.

Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO), Loblaw Companies (L.TO), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO), EQB Inc (EQB.TO), Dollarama Inc (DOL.TO) and Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) closed higher by 1.5 to 2%.

Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO), Dundee Precious Metals (DPM.TO), TransAlta Corporation (TA.TO), Molson Coors Canada (TPX.B.TO), Dye & Durham (DND.TO), Osisko Gold Royalties (OR.TO) and Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO) ended down 1.5 to 3.2%.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed that retail sales in Canada incresed 1.6% in November 2024, over the same month in the previous year. According to preliminary estimates, retail sales are expected to surge 1.6% month-over-month in December 2024. That will be the biggest gain since May 2022.