Toronto Stocks Continue Climb; Empire Shares Down on 4Q Profit Decline, Sales Outlook

By Adriano Marchese

Toronto stocks were solidly higher mid-trading on Thursday, continuing their upward momentum after equities climbed on Wednesday to fresh highs, benefiting from the U.S. Fed signaling rate cuts in 2024. On the macro front, Canadian factory sales pulled back after three straight months of gains in October, led by a drop in shipments of petroleum products.

In the session, most sectors were pushing higher, led by producer manufacturing, tech and process industries. Retail and communications were the only decliners.

Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index advanced by 0.69% to 20771.75. The blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 rose by 0.56% to 1252.55.

Shares of Empire were down 7% lower at 36.20 Canadian dollars ($26.78) after the retail grocer reported lower profit in its second quarter and said that it expects sales to fluctuate over the short-term due to inflation-driven consumer spending trends.

Other market movers:

Cenovus Energy shares were 3.1% higher at C$22.42 after it set its production targets for the next year and outlined a budget aimed at capital investment and balancing growth of the business with shareholder returns.

Transat shares were down 2.1% to C$3.65 after reporting a swing-to-profit in its 4Q, as well as plans to increase capacity while it tries to navigate an uncertain cost-environment. Transat also said it agreed to sell its stake in the ownership of a resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for $15.5 million to the other co-shareholder.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 14, 2023 12:23 ET (17:23 GMT)

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