Canada’s main stock index soared along with Santa’s reindeer to close Tuesday in thin trading volumes, as investors clocked in for a half-day trading session on Christmas Eve.
The TSX regained 97.84 to conclude Christmas Eve at 24,846.82.
The Canadian dollar inched upward 0.02 cents to 69.59 cents U.S.
Toronto markets closed at 1:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday on account of a half-day Christmas holiday.
In corporate news, Canada’s antitrust regulator said on Monday it was suing Rogers Communications for allegedly misleading consumers about offering unlimited data under some phone plans. Rogers shares finished the Christmas Eve session down five cents to $43.94.
Energy powered the index Tuesday, as Veren Inc. gathered 19 cents, or 2.8%, to $7.11, while Vermilion Energy jumped 33 cents, or 2.6%, to $13.10.
In techs, Bitfarms picked up 14 cents, or 6.1%, to $2.45, while BlackBerry tacked on 22 cents, or 4.1%, to $5.65.
Real-estate also shone like the star on the tree, with CAPREIT gained 37 cents, or $42.53, while Granite REIT units took on 81 cents, or 1%, to $71.29.
Communications slumped, through, with TELUS skidding 27 cents, or 1.4%, to $19.48, while Quebecor lost 18 cents, or $31.03.
In consumer staples, Jamieson Wellness backed off 62 cents, or 1.7%, to $36.50, while George Weston ditched $1.28 to $227.29.
In health-care Tilray slid three cents, or 1.5%, to $2.02, while Sienna Senior Living lost three cents to $15.68.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange barreled ahead 6.42 points, or 1.1%, to end Tuesday at 596.26.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, with energy rumbling 1%, information technology sparking higher 0.6%, and real-estate up 0.4%.
The three laggards proved to be communications, down 0.4%, consumer staples, sliding 0.3%, and health-care, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks jumped Tuesday on Christmas Eve as the market pulled off back-to-back gains in the holiday week.
The Dow Jones Industrials popped 390.08 points to conclude the session at 43,297.03.
The S&P 500 index hiked 65.97 points, or 1.1%, to 6,040.04.
The NASDAQ grabbed 266.24 points, or 1%, to 20,031.13, helped by a 7.4% jump in Tesla shares. Amazon and Meta Platforms gained more than 1% each.
With two straight winning days, the S&P 500 is up 1.8% this week, while the Dow has gained about 1%. The strong rally in megacap tech lifted the NASDAQ up 2.3% this week.
The S&P 500 also turned green for the month with a 0.1% gain after this week’s advance. The tech-heavy NASDAQ has rallied 4.2% in December, with Google parent Alphabet up 16%, Apple up 10% and Tesla rallying 34% month to date. The blue-chip Dow, however, is still down about 3.6% in December, on pace for its worst monthly performance since April.
American Airlines shares fluctuated after the carrier briefly grounded all flights in the U.S. due to a technical issue on one of the busiest travel days of the year. The grounding was lifted later in the morning.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury regained lost ground, lowering yields to Monday’s 4.59%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices tacked on 78 cents to $70.02 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold ramped up $5.60 an ounce to $2,633.80 U.S.
