By Purvi Agarwal
(Reuters) -Canada's main stock index closed at a 22-month closing high on Thursday, buoyed by gains in technology and healthcare stocks, tracking a record close on the Wall Street after chip designer Nvidia's strong quarterly results and forecast.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index added 145.70 points, or 0.69%, at 21,318.08, its highest close since April 15, 2022.
Information technology stocks led gains on the index with a 1.2% rise. Electronic company Celestica jumped 12%, the highest among the tech stocks.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both surged to close at record highs on Thursday, powered by investors piling into growth and technology stocks the day after artificial intelligence poster child Nvidia's bumper earnings and outlook. [.N]
"The epicentre of today's rally is the IT sector, as evidenced by the performance of the megacap tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 index. Nvidia's bullish announcement has ignited a major rally in equity markets worldwide," said Brandon Michael, senior investment analyst at ABC Funds.
Back on the TSX, healthcare companies also rose 2.4%, helped by Bausch Health's 7.4% gain after quarterly revenue beat.
First Quantum Minerals climbed 5% after the company announced a range of measures late Wednesday to strengthen its balance sheet.
Enerplus jumped 8.5% after U.S. energy firm Chord Energy agreed to acquire the Canadian company to create a Williston basin-focused entity with an enterprise value of $11 billion.
Quebecor fell 2.4% after reporting its fourth quarter results.
(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Ravi Prakash Kumar and Marguerita Choy)
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