Canadian stocks staged a recovery on Friday even as the U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell underlined a cautious approach to monetary policy. Powell, in his speech on the economic outlook, highlighted uncertainties in trade and fiscal policy, indicating that interest rates could remain restrictive if inflation does not decrease sustainably. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 175 points, or 0.7%, to settle at 24,759.
While nearly all key sectors ended the session in positive territory, the TSX rally was mainly driven by healthy gains in utility, energy, and industrial stocks. Despite this broader intraday market recovery, the market index still ended the week with a loss of 2.5%, marking its worst weekly performance in 11 weeks.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
MDA Space (TSX:MDA) jumped by 18% to $26.83 per share, making it the top-performing TSX stock for the day. This rally in MDA stock came after the Toronto-based global space company released its upbeat fourth-quarter earnings report.
In the quarter ended in December 2024, MDA’s total revenue surged by 69.1% year over year to $336.6 million, supported by the strong performance of its Satellite Systems business. Although higher depreciation and an unfavourable program mix affected its gross margin, the company’s adjusted quarterly earnings of $0.36 per share doubled from a year ago and exceeded Street analyst expectations of $0.20 per share. On a year-to-date basis, MDA stock is still down 9%.
Celestica, Fortuna Mining, and NovaGold Resources were also among the day’s top gainers on the Toronto Stock Exchange as they climbed by at least 6.2% each.
In contrast, Aritzia, Algoma Steel, Badger Infrastructure Solutions, and Aecon slid by at least 3.9% each, making them the session’s worst-performing TSX stocks.
Based on their daily trade volume, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor Energy, Enbridge, Manulife Financial, and Cenovus Energy were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices were largely mixed in early trading on Monday, pointing to a flat open for the resource-heavy main TSX index today.
While no major economic releases are due this morning, Canadian investors will continue to watch for new developments in the U.S.-Canada trade discussions, hoping for progress that could lift market sentiment.
On the corporate events side, the TSX-listed Enghouse Systems, NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT, and Franco-Nevada will release their latest quarterly earnings reports on March 10, which could keep their stocks in focus.