Methanex and software company
OpenText Corp gained 7.3% and 4.5% respectively after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. A surge in OpenText helped Canada's technology sector stave off losses, unlike the technology-heavy U.S. Nasdaq , which fell more than 1% during early trading.
On the flipside, the materials sector , which includes precious and base metal mining companies, edged 1.3% lower as precious metal prices fell against a stronger dollar. The greenback gained strength after data showed U.S. job growth
accelerated sharply in January amid a persistently resilient labor market.
"Initially, the market took that as being a little bit
hawkish in terms of the Fed... the stocks have bounced back
quite significantly since then," said Colin Cieszynski, chief
market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.
"People were more concerned about what does that mean about the Fed, but the flip side of which is that it's indicative that the economy is holding up pretty well, which is good for corporate earnings."
The U.S. central bank
raised its overnight lending rate by expected 25-basis points on Wednesday, with accompanying commentary by Chair Jerome Powell largely perceived as dovish.
Among individual stocks, Canada Goose Holdings gained 7.8% after falling as much as 24% in the previous session, when the luxury goods maker
cut its full-year forecasts.
Silver miners such as Endeavour Silver and
SilverCrest Metals were among top losers.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna
Chandra Eluri and Maju Samuel)
