Canadian equities staged a sharp recovery on Friday as strong commodity prices and much cooler-than-expected U.S. wholesale inflation data gave investors a reason to buy back into the market after a volatile week. As a result, the S&P/TSX Composite Index jumped by 350 points, or 1.4%, to 24,553 — posting its highest single-day percentage gain in over seven months.
While all key sectors ended the session in green, the TSX rally was mainly led by technology, healthcare, and financial stocks.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Producer Price Index for final demand was flat in February, following gains of 0.6% in January and 0.5% in December. This unexpected slowdown in wholesale inflation raised hopes that the Federal Reserve could further ease its monetary policy, boosting investor confidence.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
NFI Group (TSX:NFI) surged by 21% to $13.42 per share, making it the top-performing TSX stock for the day. This rally in NFI stock came after the Winnipeg-headquartered bus manufacturer announced its solid fourth-quarter results and a contract with York Region Transit for clean-diesel buses.
In the quarter ended December 2024, NFI’s revenue rose 5.1% year over year while its adjusted net profit of US$13.9 million crushed Street analysts’ expectations of US$4.8 million. Moreover, the company reported a record backlog of US$12.8 billion, with zero-emission buses making up 40.3% of total orders. Despite the recent rally, however, NFI stock is still down 4% on a year-to-date basis.
Mattr, goeasy, BlackBerry, and Celestica were also among the top performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with each climbing by at least 5.5%.
In contrast, BCE, NovaGold Resources, Calibre Mining, and Northland Power slipped by at least 2% each, making them the session’s worst-performing TSX stocks.
Based on their daily trade volume, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor Energy, Manulife Financial, Pembina Pipeline, and Cenovus Energy were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices across the board remained mixed in early Monday trading, suggesting the TSX could see a divided performance at the open today.
Although no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors may want to keep an eye on the monthly U.S. retail sales data this morning, which could provide further insights into consumer spending trends and influence market sentiment.
On the corporate events side, the TSX-listed K92 Mining will release its latest quarterly earnings report today. Bay Street analysts expect the Vancouver-based gold producer to post earnings of US$0.20 per share for the December quarter with US$129.5 million in revenue.