Canadian Market Moderately Higher As Energy Stocks Rally

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is up in positive territory around late morning on Thursday, riding on gains in energy and materials sectors thanks to higher commodity prices.

The mood, however, remains somewhat cautious amid slowing growth and soaring inflation. The Fed minutes, released on Wednesday, indicated more interest rate hikes by the central bank to bring inflation down.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 90.97 points or 0.45% at 20,272.41 nearly half-an-hour before noon.

The Energy Capped Index is up 1.75%. Athabasca Oil Corp (ATH.TO) and Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO) are gaining 4.75% and 4.5%, respectively. Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) are up 2 to 3.5%.

Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO), up 4.8%, is the top gainer in the materials sector. Turquioise Hill Resources (TRQ.TO) is up 4.2%, while Stelco Holdings (STLC.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Methanex Corp (MX.TO), Lithium Americas Corp (LAC.TO) and Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) are up 2 to 3%.

In the healthcare index, Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) is drifting down more than 5%, Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) is lower by nearly 4%, Cronos Group (CRON.TO) and Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) both are down 3.1%, and Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) is lower by about 1.7%.

Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO), Dye & Durham (DND.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Tecsys Inc (TCS.TO) and Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO) are among the prominent losers in the technology sector.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed the raw materials prices index in Canada increased by 19.1% from a year earlier in July 2022, following a revised 32.6% gain in the previous month.

Producer prices in Canada fell 2.1% month-over-month in July of 2022, following a revised 0.8% drop a month earlier. The IPPI rose by 11.9% yearly, slowing from a 14.3% jump in June.