The S&P/TSX Composite index climbed 1,293.8 points, or 7.1 per cent including dividends, during the three months ended with Wednesday’s close. As is customary with a market capitalization-weighted index, it is the largest stocks that are determining TSX returns. For instance, a 1 per cent move in Royal Bank has a 10 times larger effect on benchmark performance than TFI International Inc.
Canadian Natural Resources had the biggest positive effect on index performance for the period, contributing 137 points with a 2o-per-cent total return (all percentage returns cited here include dividends). Canadian Pacific Kansas City rose 12.7 per cent and added 87 upside points. Suncor Energy rose 16.3 per cent which improved three-month benchmark returns by 66 points and Manulife’s 16.5-per-cent return added 59.9 points. Waste Connections rounds out the top five most positive drivers of market returns, providing 55.9 points.
Widely held, household names dominate the list of biggest detractors this week. BCE Inc. had the biggest negative impact, removing 54.9 points with a 16.0-per-cent loss. TD Bank fell 3.9 per cent, subtracting 42.0 points – a good example of how smaller moves in the biggest stocks have outsized influence.
Two communications giants, Rogers Communications and Telus Corp. dropped 13.4 per cent and 8.1 per cent, respectively, removing a total of 41.1 points. Alimentation Couche-Tard is the fifth biggest detractor, falling 4.5 per cent and weakening returns by 18.0 points.
In terms of outright percentage returns for index constituents over the past three months, the best and worst are featured in the second chart below. The best total returns came from Celestica (up a remarkable 77.0 per cent), Iamgold (55.3), Precision Drilling (45.6), Torex Gold Resources (45.0) and Equinox Gold Corp. (43.6).
Worst performance came from SSR Mining (down -54.1 per cent), Transalta Corp (-20.8), Lightspeed Commerce (-19.9) ATS Corp (-18.3) and BCE Inc (-15.0)
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Canadian Natural Resources reported a 2-per-cent total return. It reported a 20-per-cent total return. This version has been updated.
Scott Barlow