Markets managed to find their feet on a dramatic day of diplomacy in which U.S. officials tried to prevent the Hamas-Israel war from expanding into a regional crisis.

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United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken meet for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after earlier meeting with Arab leaders. During the day, the possibility was floated of a potential visit to Israel by U.S. President Joe Biden.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 0.81 per cent at 19,620.80 after a rollercoster day that started with a decline of 0.4 per cent at the open before rallying as much as 1.11 per cent in the late morning.

All the major index sectors posted gains with information technology rising the most — 1.67 per cent — followed by communication services, up 1.29 per cent. Financials, meanwhile, jumped 1.12 per cent, materials rose 0.66 per cent and energy was up 0.49 per cent.

For the day, there were 163 gainers and 63 losers.

Here are the top three performers on the index for Oct. 16:

Lithium Americas Corp.

One-day change: 7.28 per cent
Year-to-date change: -20.86 per cent

The precious metals company gained ground after closing out last week as the biggest loser on the index, falling nearly 20 per cent.

It’s still early days for the Vancouver-based miner, which only has eight trading sessions under its belt, following its debut on Canadian and U.S. markets Oct. 4. Trading of the new company began after it and Lithium Americas Argentina were separated into two entities.

Lithium Americas will focus solely on the Thacker Pass lithium deposit in Nevada. Earlier this year, the company and General Motors Co. announced they would jointly develop the mine as the automaker looks to source raw material for EV batteries.

The company got some fresh analyst attention Oct. 16 as B. Riley Securities began coverage issuing a buy rating

Analysts currently have eight buys, one hold and no sells on the stock, and an average 12-month price target of $28.08, according to Bloomberg, down from $29.17 on Oct. 13.

Lithium Americas closed Oct. 16 at $12.67.

BlackBerry Inc.

One-day change: 6.55 per cent
Year-to-date change: 14.29 per cent

BlackBerry basked in the artificial intelligence glow after the software company announced the launch of a new cybersecurity assistant powered by generative AI.

The Waterloo, Ont.-based company said the software assesses cybersecurity threats using language models for accuracy and data privacy with the product available to BlackBerry Cylance AI customers.

Bloomberg Intelligence senior analyst John Butler said the “new generative AI assistant … could boost the appeal of this offering improve its competitive standing.”

Shares of BlackBerry are well off their year-to-date on Sept. 1 of $7.62.

Analysts currently have one buy, eight holds and one sell on the stock, and an average 12-month price target of $6.74, according to Bloomberg.

BlackBerry closed Oct. 16 at $5.04

Stella-Jones Inc.

One-day change: 5.57 per cent
Year-to-date change: 48.85 per cent

Stella has had a very strong 2023 as the supplier of utility polls, railway ties and other infrastructure products across North America reported earnings for the fourth quarter of last year and the first two quarters of 2023 that beat estimates either on earnings per share or sales.

Based on that strength, National Bank Financial upgraded the St. Laurent, Que.-based company to outperform. The massive U.S. infrastructure bill supports “resilient volume and pricing beyond normal levels,” said analyst Maxim Sytchev in a note. “We are likely to see further positive earnings revisions for SJ, pulling shares up in tandem.”

Analysts currently have six buys, one hold and no sells on the stock, and an average 12-month price target of $79.83, according to Bloomberg.

Stella-Jones closed Oct. 16 at $72.22

With files from Bloomberg

• Email: gmvsuhanic@postmedia.com