Canadian Market Modestly Higher As Technology Stocks Hold Firm

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is modestly higher in late afternoon trades on Tuesday, led by gains in technology sector.

A few stocks from real estate, financials, materials and consumer staples sectors are also up with notable gains.

Data showing a drop in U.S. consumer prices in the month of February has raised hopes the Fed would gradually slow down the pace of monetary tightening from this month.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which rose to 19,850.63, gaining more than 260 points, has pared most of its gains and is currently up 75.11 points or 0.38% at 19,664.01.

The Information Technology Capped Index is up 1.85%. Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO) is up more than 10%. Quarterhill Inc (QTRH.TO) is surging 6.5% and Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO) is climbing 5.2%.

Softchoice Corp (SFTC.TO), Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO), Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO), Payfare (PAY.TO), Coveo Solutions (CVO.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) and BlackBerry (BB.TO) are gaining 3 to 4.5%.

Real estate stocks Colliers International (CIGI.TO) and Storagevault Canada (SVI.TO) are up 2.7% and 2.5%, respectively.

In the financials sector, Onex Corp (ONEX.TO) is surging 3.2%, Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) is up 2.3%, National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is gaining 1.3% and Manulife Financial (MFC.TO) is advancing 1.2%.

Among materials shares, Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO) is climbing nearly 4%. Oceanagold (OGC.TO) and Endeavour Silver Corp (EDR.TO) are up 3.5% and 3.1%, respectively. Stelco Holdings (STLC.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) and Nutrien (NTR.TO) are gaining 2.5 to 2.7%.

Data from Statistics Canada showed manufacturing sales in Canada increased to 4.1% in January from -1.5% in December of 2022.