TSX falls, Dow rises on last day of 2020

The Toronto Stock Exchange's TSX fell 0.64 per cent Thursday to 17,433.36, a drop of 112.45 points.

Leading the index were Trillium Therapeutics Inc., up 9.3 per cent, Bausch Health Companies Inc., up 3.6 per cent, and Element Fleet Management Corp., higher by 2.3 per cent.

Lagging shares were Cronos Group Inc., down 5.0 per cent, Aurora Cannabis Inc., down 4.8 per cent, and MEG Energy Corp., lower by 3.6 per cent.

On the TSX, 55 issues rose and 164 fell as a 0.3-to-1 ratio favoured decliners. There were five new highs and no new lows, with a total volume of 92.6 million shares.

The most heavily traded shares by volume were Cenovus Energy Inc., Bank Of Nova Scotia and Power Corporation Of Canada.

The TSX'S energy group fell 1.27 points, or 1.4 per cent, while the financials sector climbed 0.33 points, or 0.1 per cent.

The TSX is up 2.17 per cent for the year.

Wall Street advanced Thursday as investors closed the book on a turbulent year of pandemic, recession and recovery.

All three major U.S. indexes gained ground, with the Dow and S&P 500 picking up steam in the session's final minutes to exit 2020 at record highs. Over the course of a historic year, the indexes both roared and plummeted as economic shutdowns to contain the coronavirus brought markets to their knees.

"It's a quiet day with little news and low volume, an ironic end to such a tumultuous year," said David Carter, chief investment officer at Lenox Wealth Advisors in New York.

"All eyes are on next year, which will be 'show me' time, with investors watching to see if actual fundamentals will be as strong as current stock prices are forecasting."

Equities bounced back with a vengeance following the plunge in March, with the Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow posting respective annual gains of 43.6 per cent, 16.3 per cent and 7.2 per cent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 196.92 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 30,606.48, the S&P 500 gained 24.03 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 3,756.07 and the Nasdaq Composite added 18.28 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 12,888.28.

European stocks closed lower as tighter coronavirus restrictions in the U.K. and higher U.S. tariffs on some EU products dampened optimism on the last day of the Brexit transition.

U.S. crude rose 0.25 per cent to settle at $48.52 per barrel and Brent settled at $51.80 per barrel, up 0.33 per cent on the day.