TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (21,031.81, up 318.09 points.)
Athabasca Oil Corp. (TSX:ATH). Energy. Up 22 cents, or 8.2 per cent, to $2.89 on 16.2 million shares.
Crescent Point Energy Corp. (TSX:CPG). Energy. Up 47 cents, or 4.1 per cent, to $11.82 on 10 million shares.
Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB). Energy. Up 86 cents, or 1.5 per cent, to $59.02 on 9.4 million shares.
Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Down $1, or 1.9 per cent, to $50.79 on 9.4 million shares.
Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE). Energy. Down 16 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $30.02 on 6.5 million shares.
Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Up 20 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $23.54 on 6.3 million shares.
Companies in the news:
Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY). Up 42 cents to $132.87. Royal Bank of Canada has become caught up in efforts by Texas to limit action by banks against gun manufacturers and fossil fuel companies as attention intensifies on the divisive issues. Texas passed laws last year that bar state contracts, including in its sizable municipal bond market, from going to banks and other financial institutions that either boycott energy companies or “discriminate” against a firearm entity or trade association. RBC says it is in compliance with state laws, even as Texas officials are reviewing the bank’s policy. Meanwhile, the bank faces questions from environmentalists asking how the bank can comply both with the laws and its climate change commitments. The state defines a boycott broadly. In Senate Bill 13, it includes any action by banks to limit commercial relations with an oil and gas company because it does not go beyond minimum environmental requirements. The language used in the firearms law includes refusing a business relation solely because they are a firearm entity or trade association.
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (TSX:ATD). Up 57 cents to $58. Convenience store retailer Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. says it will deploy more than 10,000 touchless self-serve cash registers within three years at over 7,000 Couche-Tard and Circle K stores. The system, called smart checkouts by the company, is powered by artificial intelligence designed by the firm Mashgin. It has been tested since 2020 at nearly 500 Circle K stores in the United States and Sweden, as well as in Couche-Tard’s retail innovation lab store located on the campus of McGill University in Montreal. The system uses computer vision to recognize items presented from virtually any angle and registers them instantly in a single transaction without the need to scan barcodes. Customers will deposit their items at the checkout system, which uses cameras to record everything in less than a second, and pay as usual. Magnus Tägtström, vice-president at Couche-Tard, says the smart checkout system will reduce queues and free up teams to focus on helping customers.
Canadian National Railway Co. (TSX:CNR). Up $4.33 or three per cent to $148.67. The new chief executive of Canadian National Railway Co. did not apologize on behalf of her company for the absence of francophones on its board of directors. Tracy Robinson told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday that she is committed to appointing a French-speaking director from Quebec very soon. Speaking partly in French, a language she has been learning since joining the railway three months ago, Robinson told the standing committee on official languages that the Montreal-based rail company has identified a large number of qualified candidates. She said CN is “leading by example,” noting that two-thirds of senior executives and 90 per cent of executives working in Quebec speak French. Canada’s largest railway was plunged into a linguistic storm when the Montreal-based company failed to replace Quebec premier Jean Charest, who resigned to run for the federal Conservative party leadership, with another francophone.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2022.