Shares of Imperial Oil Limited (TSE:IMO) last traded at 38.77, representing a move of 0.1%, or 0.04 per share, on volume of 784,925 shares. After opening the trading day at 39.12, shares of Imperial Oil Limited traded in a close range. Imperial Oil Limited currently has a total float of 777.59 million shares and on average sees 945,633 shares exchange hands each day. The stock now has a 52-week low of 33.52 and high of 44.91.

What Drives The Canadian Economy?

Canada is an important aspect of the North American economy. While the US is relatively bigger, it still has interesting potentials to drive economic growth in the region.
With a thriving equity market, any nation has the capacity to carry out long-term prospects. In Canada, for example, there is the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). The benchmark index is the S&P/TSX Composite Index, replacing the TSE 300 Index.

Facts About the S&P/TSX Composite Index

The S&P/TSX Composite Index is a free-float market-capitalization-weighted index like most leading indices in the world. This means that its components are the most actively traded stocks on the TSX, excluding those that are held by inside traders, venture capitalists, and government entities. Stocks held by these stakeholders are not frequently traded, which is why it is useless to include them on indices. Imperial Oil Limited is one of the stocks traded on it.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index had recorded its all-time high of 15,657.63 in September 2014, thanks to the gains in crude oil prices that primarily led the surge in the Energy and Financials sectors’ the two biggest sectors on the weighted index. Meanwhile, it had recorded its all-time low of 217.50 in February 1950. As of October 31, 2014, more than 1,500 companies are listed on the TSX. By the end of May, the TSX already had a market capitalization of $2.78 trillion. The regular trading session on the TSX begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 4:00 p.m. There is also a post-market session that lasts from 4:15 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.

What Makes Up the S&P/TSX Composite Index

There are numerous requirements in order for companies to be included in the S&P/TSX Composite Index. For starters, of course, they need to be listed on the TSX. Consequently, they must operate in accordance to all existing Canadian corporate laws. As Imperial Oil Limited is still listed, this means that the stock complies with all laws.

In order to become a component of the S&P/TSX Composite Index, a stock must weigh at least 0.05% of the index. Prior to rebalancing, it must have traded an average of C$1 in the preceding three months and at least C$1 in the last three sessions leading to the month of review. Moreover, its trading volume must weigh at least 0.025% of the overall trading volume of all eligible stocks.

About 250 companies make up the S&P/TSX Composite Index. The Financials and Energy sectors alone account for 56% of it, with the former making up 36% and the latter making up 20%. The next biggest sectors include the Materials, Industrial, and Consumer Discretionary sectors.

Because the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has recently decided to cut oil production rate to lift oil prices, the Energy sector of the S&P/TSX Composite Index is poised for potential gains. Professional analysts might be interested how this will affect Imperial Oil Limited.

Investing on the TSX is an ideal way to bet on the Canadian economy. With a promising long-term growth, investors will surely benefit from valuable returns be it in the near term or the longer term.

More notable recent Imperial Oil Limited (TSE:IMO) news were published by: which released: “Imperial Oil Limited (TSE:IMO): Ex-Dividend Is In 4 Days – Yahoo Finance” on February 24, 2019, also Seekingalpha.com with their article: “Suncor: Best Dividend Growth For An Energy Stock – Seeking Alpha” published on January 29, 2019, Ft.com published: “Emerging markets can’t escape the Fed’s balance sheet unwind – Financial Times” on January 10, 2019. More interesting news about Imperial Oil Limited (TSE:IMO) were released by: Theglobeandmail.com and their article: “The close: Energy stocks send TSX lower after Trans Mountain ruling – The Globe and Mail” published on August 30, 2018 as well as Theglobeandmail.com‘s news article titled: “Monday’s TSX breakouts: This large-cap stock with 13 buy calls is set to report its quarterly results this week – The Globe and Mail” with publication date: September 10, 2018.

Imperial Oil Limited explores for, produces, and sells natural gas and crude oil in Canada. The company has market cap of $30.15 billion. The firm operates through three divisions: Upstream, Downstream, and Chemical. It has a 13.56 P/E ratio. The Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil, natural gas, synthetic oil, and bitumen.