Toronto Stocks Advance; Gildan Shares Up on Board After Fund Wins Proxy Battle

By Adriano Marchese

Toronto-listed stocks were firmly higher mid-trading on Friday.

Early signs show that consumers in Canada were spending again last month, breaking a run of slower retail sales through the first quarter. Some analysts think it won't have been enough to deter the central bank from potentially cutting interest rates this year.

The positive performance was a broad-based rise in most sectors, led by tech, consumer discretionary, materials and energy. Only health tech and communications stocks were in the red.

Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index was 0.5% higher at 22311.55 and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 rose by 0.4% to 1334.99.

Shares of Gildan Activewear were 4.2% higher in Toronto, at 50.87 Canadian dollars (US$37.05), after the board and chief executive resigned late Thursday following Browning West's successful proxy campaign that sought to reinstall the company's ousted former CEO, Glenn Chamandy.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 24, 2024 12:27 ET (16:27 GMT)

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