TSX Today: What to Watch for in Stocks on Friday, March 18

The TSX Composite benchmark reached its highest-ever closing levels on Thursday.

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Stocks in Canada continued to soar on Thursday, as investors continued to react to the latest Federal Reserve statement and policy move. Also, a sharp intraday recovery in commodity prices across the board helped energy and metals mining shares inch up. As a result, the TSX Composite Index ended the session with solid 302-point, or 1.4%, gain at 21,771 — its highest-ever closing level. Apart from commodity-related stocks, sectors like technology and healthcare led the market rally.

With this, the main Canadian market index is now trading with more than 3% gains in March so far.

Top TSX movers and active stocks

The shares of Lightspeed Commerce, Energy Fuels (TSX:EFR)(NASDAQ:CLNE), Denison Mines, and Cameco were among the top-performing stocks on the TSX, as they inched up by at least 9% each.

Yesterday, the New York-based equity research and investment firm H.C. Wainwright raised its target price on Energy Fuels stock which seemingly boosted investors’ confidence. Interestingly, the recent supply issues have driven a rally in uranium prices. Surging uranium prices could be another factor supporting the rally in EFR stock, as they are likely to boost the company’s profitability. Year to date, the stock has now risen by 24%.

While no TSX Composite components saw a big decline on Thursday, Premium Brands Holdings and Descartes Systems were the worst-performing stocks on the benchmark, with around 2% losses each.

Based on their daily trade volume, Cenovus Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, and Suncor Energy were the most active stocks on the exchange.

TSX today

Early Friday morning, most commodities were trading on a mixed note, which could likely keep TSX stocks flat at the open today. While investors could continue digesting the recent monetary policy moves, Canada’s latest retail sales and the U.S. existing home sales data will also remain in focus this morning. Also, any big update related to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war could heighten the market volatility in the near term.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium service or advisor. We’re Motley! Questioning an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer, so we sometimes publish articles that may not be in line with recommendations, rankings or other content.

The Motley Fool recommends CDN NATURAL RES and Lightspeed Commerce. Fool contributor Jitendra Parashar has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

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