Canadian shares rose on Thursday, as technology stocks rebounded, but the main index was on track to end September down 2% after posting seven straight monthly gains.

At 9:43 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 45.57 points, or 0.23%, at 20,203.71.

Toronto-listed technology stocks gained 0.9%, recovering from a two-month low hit in the previous session.

Materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.6% on firmer bullion prices.

Persisting concerns around a slowdown in the post-pandemic economic recovery and seasonal weakness have knocked down the Canadian benchmark index from record highs touched in September.

Toronto stock retreats as technology, mining shares drag

"September lived up to its reputation of volatility, and definitely something that everyone's been paying attention to," said Gregory Taylor, portfolio manager at Purpose Investments.

"It's interesting to see that Toronto market has done better than that a lot of other indices. It's really the sector rotation that has been a benefit to Canada," Taylor added.

Meanwhile, declines were led by heavyweight energy group , down 1.1% on weaker crude prices. However, it was the only major sub-sector index which was on course to end September in gains.

Highlights

Bombardier Inc jumped 5.7% and was the largest percentage gainer on the TSX. The company said it had received a firm order worth $534 million for 20 units of an upgraded variant of its Challenger 350 aircraft, marking its biggest business jet deal this year.

The TSX posted one new 52-week highs and one new low.

Across all Canadian issues, there were seven new 52-week highs and 15 new lows, with total volume of 30.05 million shares.