By Adriano Marchese

Toronto stocks were firmly higher Thursday, mid-trading, with a broad-based push higher from most Canadian sectors. The laggards were materials, retail and fiance stocks, while leading the gainers of the session were manufacturing, energy and communications stocks.

Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.7% to 25337.54 and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 climbed by 0.7% to 1522.52.

Leading the telecom trend, BCE shares rose 6.4% to 31.26 Canadian dollars ($22.58) after the company cut its dividend by more than half to support its deleveraging efforts. This was a long-awaited reduction among many analysts who viewed the payout yield as too high relative to BCE's underperforming stock price. At the same time, BCE said it will stop discounted treasury issuances of common shares as part of its shareholder dividend-reinvestment and stock-purchase plan.

Other market movers:

Shopify shares fell 2.5% to C$128.06 after the e-commerce company posted a wider first-quarter loss and gross merchandise volume that missed expectations, despite a rise in revenue. The company said it was helping merchants stay ahead of fluid trade policies, but downplayed broader economic negative effects that tariffs have had on business.

Cenovus Energy shares rose 9.6% to C$17.86 after the company hiked its dividend despite the heightened uncertainty caused by the Trump administration's tariffs and a drop in earnings in the first three months of the year.

Cronos Group swung to a profit in the first quarter thanks to a rise in revenue and a mix of higher prices and lower costs. Shares were up 8.6% to C$2.78.

Canadian Natural Resources is scaling back spending plans for the year thanks to cost savings, while sticking to its annual production target after record output in the first quarter. Shares rose 5.6% to C$42.06.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 08, 2025 12:18 ET (16:18 GMT)

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