The S&P/TSX Composite Index has climbed 1,445 points in the past three months, up until Wednesday’s close. Let’s look at the stocks that were most helpful, and the biggest hindrance, to that result.
Overall, what we find is that in a market cap-weighted benchmark like the TSX, small moves in bigger companies can have much bigger effects than big percentage changes in smaller companies.
The biggest positive influence on the index came from Canadian Pacific Kansas City CP-T. The company’s 15.1-per-cent appreciation boosted the benchmark by 116 points.
The remainder of the top five contributors are either technology or energy stocks. Canadian Natural Resources’s CNQ-T 15.6-per-cent rise added 115 points and Suncor Energy’s SU-T 15.6-per-cent return pushed the benchmark higher by 65 points.
For technology, Constellation Software Inc. CSU-T climbed 16.7 per cent and added 80 points. Shopify Inc. SHOP-T rose 8.5 per cent and contributed 75 points.
The biggest five detractors from index returns include three precious metals stocks. Barrick Gold Corp. ABX-T shaved 30 points from benchmark returns, Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. WPM-T subtracted 13 points and SSR Mining Inc.’s SSRM-T 62-per-cent loss reduced index returns by 13 points. TD Bank TD-T eased lower by 4.3 per cent but its large market cap resulted in a 15-point reduction in benchmark returns. Similarly, BCE’s BCE-T 9.9-per-cent loss took 25 points from the index.
The second accompanying chart shows the simple returns for the top five and bottom five S&P/TSX Composite Index constituents for the past three months. The top five performers were Celestica Inc. CLS-T (up 50.7 per cent), First Quantum Minerals Ltd. FM-T (8.4 per cent), Aritzia Inc. ATZ-T (36.1 per cent), SNC Lavalin Group Inc. ATRL-T (32.3 per cent) and TFI International Inc. TFII-T (30.8 per cent).
The biggest decliners among index members were SSR Mining Inc. SSRM-T (down 61.8 per cent), Lightspeed Commerce Inc. LSPD-T (30 per cent), Blackberry Ltd. BB-T (25.1 per cent), Novagold Resources Inc. NG-T (21 per cent) and Ballard Power Systems Inc. BLDP-T (20.7 per cent).
Scott Barlow