TSX Ends At Near 2-year Closing High, Gains 0.65% In Week

Canadian stocks turned in a fine performance on Friday with investors indulging in some hectic buying at several counters from across various sectors.

U.S. and European markets closed higher, and the mood was bullish on Bay Street as well amid 0ptimism about interest rate cuts by Federal Reserve and some other central banks, including the European Central Bank.

Firm crude oil and bullion prices triggered strong buying in energy and materials sectors. Technology, healthcare and real estate stocks were among the other major gainers.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 188.74 points or 0.88% at 21,552.35, a near 2-year closing high. The index gained about 0.65% in the week.

On the economic front, data showed the manufacturing activity contracted for a tenth straight month in February, although at the slowest pace in the current sequence. The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI rose to 49.7 in February, from 48.3 in the previous month.

Healthcare stocks Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) and Chartwell Retirement Residences (CSH.UN.TO) gained about 5% and 1.9%, respectively.

Energy stocks Kelt Exploration (KEL.TO), Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO), Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO), Shawcor (MATR.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), International Petroleum Corp (IPCO.TO) and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) gained 3 to 4%.

New Gold Inc (NGD.TO) soared nearly 10%, topping the list of gainers in the Materials Index. Oceanagold Corp (OGC.TO) and Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.TO) advanced 8.5% and 7.25%, respectively.

Fortuna Silver Mines (FVI.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO), Sandstorm Gold (SSL.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO) and Osisko Mining (OSK.TO) surged 6 to 7%.

In the technology sector, Tecsys Inc (TCS.TO) zoomed nearly 9%. Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) climbed 6.4%, Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) gained about 6% and Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO) ended 5.1% up.

Descartes Systems (DSG.TO), Open Text Corp (OTEX.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO) and Bitfarms (BITF.TO) gained 1.8 to…