Stocks in Canada’s largest market went into a long Easter weekend with triple-digit gains to close Thursday, the week, the month and the quarter with a flourish
The S&P/TSX Composite Index vaulted 197.35 points, or 1.3%, to close the week and March at 15,367.29
The Canadian dollar gained 0.23 cents at 77.61 cents U.S.
Still, the index was on track for its biggest quarterly drop in more than two years, a decline of 5.2%.
Markets throughout North America will be closed tomorrow for Good Friday
Suncor Energy was key among a powerful energy sector Thursday, gaining 71 cents, or 1.6%, to $44.55, while Canadian Natural Resources gushed $1.06, or 2.7%, to $40.49.
Among materials, Agnico Eagle Mines sprinted 70 cents, or 1.3%, to $54.24, while Teck Resources climbed $1.50, or 4.7%, to $33.25.
In the consumer discretionary category, Magna International gained $2.44, or 3.5%, to $72.73, while Gildan Activewear gathered 26 cents to $37.24
One of the largest percentage gainers on the TSX was Methanex, which rose $3.15, or 4.2% to $78.31, while one of the largest decliners was Prometic Life Sciences, down 37 cents, or 29.8%, to 87 cents.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported that gross domestic product edged down 0.1% in January, offsetting part of the 0.2% growth in December. The decline was mainly the result of lower output of non-conventional oil extraction and decreased activity in real estate.
The agency also declared that its industrial product price index edged up 0.1% in February. Widespread price increases in the major commodity groups of the IPPI were largely offset by lower energy and petroleum product prices
StatsCan’s raw materials price index fell 0.3% due to lower prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 12.45 points, or 1.6%, to 796.67
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups remained positive, with energy climbing 2.5%, while materials climbed 2.4%, and consumer discretionary stocks gaining 1.8%
The lone laggard was in utilities down 0.02%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rallied on Thursday, the last trading day of the month and the quarter, as the technology sector curbed steep declines seen in recent sessions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average zoomed 254.69 points, or 1.1%, to 24,103.11, with Intel rising 5%.
The S&P 500 gathered 35.87 points, or 1.4%, to 2,640.87, with tech rising 2%.
The NASDAQ Composite index gained 114.22 points, or 1.6%, to 7,063.44, with Microsoft jumping 2.8%.
The Dow docked 2.3%, and S&P 500 fell 1.2% for the quarter. They also snapped nine-quarter winning streaks. The NASDAQ, meanwhile, rose 2.3% in the first quarter.
Shares of Facebook rose 5%, while Apple, Netflix and Alphabet also closed higher. Microsoft rose 2.1% after the company announced a major reorganization.
However, the S&P 500 technology sector ended the month 4% lower following a slew of negative news for some of the key companies in the space. Last week, reports emerged alleging that Cambridge Analytica, an analytics company, had gathered data from 50 million Facebook profiles without users' permission.
For the month, Facebook shares dropped 10.4%.
Meanwhile, shares of Amazon tumbled Wednesday after news emerged that President Donald Trump reportedly wanted to take on the e-commerce giant, in regards to its tax treatment.
Trump then tweeted on Thursday morning: "Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!"
Amazon's stock slumped on the back of the tweet before closed 1.1% higher.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note were lower, raising yields to 2.74% from Wednesday’s 2.78%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 58 cents a barrel at $64.96 U.S.
Gold prices eased 20 cents to $1,329.80 U.S. an ounce.
