Canadian stocks came just shy of closing at a new record after moving within 100 points of hitting an all-time high in early afternoon trading Thursday, with heavyweights leading the way and only a few dozen stocks in the red.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index traded at an intraday high of 20,840.33 points. The index’s all-time intraday high of 20,897.57 was set on Sept. 7.

The TSX has closed higher in all but one session so far in October and notched its seventh straight winning session as of Thursday. It has rallied 19 per cent year-to-date. The Thursday close of 20,819.94 fell just short of the record 20,821.43 points set on Sept. 3.

All but one of the TSX’s major subgroups ended in positive territory and 55 individual stocks closed lower.

Powerhouse names like Brookfield Asset Management Inc, Royal Bank of Canada and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most points to the index.

Like much of the year, Canadian Natural Resources was benefiting from the trend higher in global energy prices as concern grows that supply isn’t keeping pace with demand. Canadian Natural strung together an 11-session streak of gains that was snapped on Oct. 6. Its shares have closed higher every day since then.

Aritzia Inc. topped the board of percentage gainers Thursday, with the retailer’s shares closing up more than 17 per cent, to $47.50.