Canadian Market Up Marginally In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is up in positive territory Tuesday morning, led by gains in energy and materials sectors. Technology stocks are weak.

The mood is cautious with investors awaiting the Canadian central bank's monetary policy announcement tomorrow. The Bank of Canada is widely expected to leave its key rate unchanged at 5%. The bank's views on the economy and future course of action with regard to interest rates are eyed.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which opened slightly down at 21,517.91, climbed to 21,622.99 but pared some gains subsequently. The index was at 21,556.28 a little while ago, gaining 25.21 points or 0.12%.

A report from S&P Global said the Composite PMI in Canada increased to 47.1 in February from 46.3 in January, pointing to the ninth consecutive month of decline in private sector activity.

The Services PMI rose to 46.6 in February from 45.8 in January, marking the eighth straight month of decline in the country's services sector.

Energy stocks Advantage Oil & Gas (AAV.TO) and Topaz Energy (TPZ.TO) are gaining 3.85% and 3.3%, respectively. Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Nuvista Energy (NVA.TO), Peyto Exploration (PEY.TO), Shawcor (MATR.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) and Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO) are up 1 to 2.3%.

Among the stocks in the Materials Index, Oceanagold Corp (OGC.TO), Dundee Precious Metals (DPM.TO), New Gold (NGD.TO), Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO), Ssr Mining (SSRM.TO), Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) and Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO) are up 3 to 5%.

Technology stock Softchoice Inc (SFTC.TO) is soaring more than 10%. The company reported adjusted net income of $18.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to adjusted net income of $19.5 million in the year-ago quarter.

Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) is down 5% and Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO) is declining 4.8%. Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO) and Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) are down 3 to 4.5%.

Consumer discretionary stock Pet Valu Holdings (PET.TO) is down 3.4% after the company reported adjusted Net Income of $39.1 million or $0.54 per diluted share for fourth-quarter of 2023, both up 25.6% versus the prior year.