Canada’s main stock index extended gains on Friday on a surge in industrial and energy stocks, while shares of Imperial Oil dropped on missing cash flow estimates in its quarterly results.
At 10:04 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 81.81 points, or 0.4%, at 20,604.45.
The benchmark index, however, is poised to end the week 0.4% lower, snapping five straight weeks of gains, but is still on track to add 2.5% this month, its best April since 2020 if gains hold.
“There’s a age-old market adage: ‘sell in May and go away’, and while that necessarily doesn’t have a great track record, returns are generally quite muted as you enter the final week of April, and that typically lasts into the fall,” said Brandon Michael, senior analyst at ABC Funds.
The industrials sector gained 0.9%, led by a 7.9% rise in GFL Environmental Inc’s shares after the environmental services company beat first-quarter profit estimates.
The energy sector rose 1.1%, tracking higher crude oil prices, after a top Russian official said global oil markets were balanced.
Imperial Oil Ltd posted a higher first-quarter profit, as higher production and refining throughput offset easing of energy prices from last year’s high levels. Its shares however lost 1.6%, on missing cash flow estimates.
“The big story this week was earnings. We have seen pockets of strength in the TSX, but overall, it’s been quite a choppy trading,” Michael added.
Among other energy companies, TC Energy Corp added 1.9%, after beating analysts’ estimates for first-quarter profit as higher energy prices boosted demand for the pipeline operator’s services.
The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners, lost 0.4% as gold prices inched lower after a rise in U.S. inflation in March buoyed the dollar.
The sector was, however, the biggest boost to the commodity-heavy index this month.
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