Canadian Market Modestly Higher At Noon; Precision Drilling Soars On Strong Results

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is modestly higher around noon on Tuesday, supported by gains in healthcare, energy, industrials and consumer discretionary sectors.

Investors digesting the data on Canadian building permits and the Ivey Purchasing Managers Index reading, in addition to tracking earnings updates, the U.S. market and commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 68.80 points or 0.33% at 20,940.69 a few minutes before noon.

In economic news, data from Statistics Canada showed the total value of building permits in Canada plunged by 14% over a month to $9.2 billion in December, the lowest since October 2020.

The Ivey Business School said the Ivey Purchasing Managers Index in Canada rose to 56.5 in January, up from 56.3 in December 2023.

Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO) shares are soaring nearly 10% on buoyant quarterly results. The company reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $147 million or $10.42 per share, compared with $3 million or $0.27 per share in the fourth quarter of 2022.

TFI International (TFII.TO) is gaining 2.75%. Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Onex Corporation (ONEX.TO), BRP Inc (DOO.TO), Dayforce Inc (DAY.TO), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO), Cargojet Inc (CJT.TO), Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) and Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO) are up 1 to 2%.

FirstService Corporation (FSV.TO) shares are down more than 3% after the company reported fourth-quarter net earnings of US$23.78 million, compared with net earnings of US$44,339 million in the fourth quarter of the previous year.

Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) is down 2.5%. Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO), GFL Environmental Inc (GFL.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) and Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) are down 1 to 2%.