Canadian Market Headed For Another Strong Finish

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market remains firmly up in positive territory Thursday afternoon, lifted by gains in energy, technology, materials and consumer discretionary stocks.

Several stocks from the healthcare space are also notably higher. Consumer staples stocks are a bit weak.

Expectations of an interest rate cut by the Canadian central bank next week, and hopes the upcoming national budget will contain some proposals for huge funding in major initiatives.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, gaining for a second straight session, was up 254.36 points or 0.85% at 30,237.34 a little while ago.

In economic news, data from Statistics Canada showed retail sales in Canada increased 4.9% year-on-year in August 2025, following an upwardly revised 4.2% rise in July.

Retail sales in Canada are set to have declined by 0.7% month-on-month in September 2025, according to a preliminary estimate.

Energy stocks are up after oil prices rose sharply. The Energy Capped Index is up 2.63%. Baytex Energy, Enerflex, International Petroleum Corp, Cenvous Energy, Whitecap Resources, Vermilion Energy, Tamarack Valley Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, Imperial Oil and Ces Energy Solutions are up 3 to 5.4%.

Among materials stocks, Torex Gold Resources, Winpak, Methanex Corp, Ssr Mining, Hudbay Minerals, First Majestic Silver, Capstone Mining, Ivanhoe Mines, Lundin Gold, Aris Gold Corporation and Nutrien are up 2 to 4.5%.

In the technology sector, Bitfarms is surging more than 7%. Celestica, Firan Technology, Sangoma Technologies, Shopify, Docebo and BlackBerry are gaining 2 to 5%.

Healthcare stocks Curaleaf Holdings and Bausch Health Companies are up 6.6% and 2.5%, respectively.